NEW SEGREGATION ANALYSIS OF PANIC DISORDER

We performed simple segregation analyses of panic disorder using 126 f amilies of probands with DSM-III-R panic disorder who were ascertained for a family study of anxiety disorders at an anxiety disorders resea rch clinic. We present parameter estimates for dominant, recessive, an d arbitrary single major locus models without sex effects, as well as for a nongenetic transmission model, and compare these models to each other and to models obtained by other investigators. We rejected the n ongenetic transmission model when comparing it to the recessive model. Consistent with some previous reports, we find comparable support for dominant and recessive models, and in both cases estimate nonzero phe nocopy rates. The effect of restricting the analysis to families of pr obands without any lifetime history of comorbid major depression (MDD) was also examined. No notable differences in parameter estimates were found in that subsample, although the power of that analysis was low. Consistency between the findings in our sample and in another indepen dently collected sample suggests the possibility of pooling such sampl es in the future in order to achieve the necessary power for more comp lex analyses. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.