Depressive personality in the relatives of outpatients with dysthymic disorder and episodic major depressive disorder and normal controls

Background. This study examined whether there is a familial relationship be tween depressive personality and the mood disorders. Method: Rates of depre ssive personality were compared in 161 relatives of outpatients with dysthy mic disorder (DD), 75 relatives of outpatients with non-chronic major depre ssive disorder (MDD), and 90 relatives of normal controls. All probands and relatives were evaluated using structured diagnostic interviews for Axis I disorders and depressive personality traits. Results: The relatives of pat ients with DD exhibited a significantly higher rate of depressive personali ty than the relatives of normal controls, while the relatives of patients w ith MDD fell in between, and did not differ from, the other two groups. The se results held after controlling for a lifetime history of mood disorder i n the relatives, and could not be explained by an increased rate of depress ive personality in the DD probands. Limitations: The sample size was modest , comorbid non-mood Axis I and II disorders in the relatives were not contr olled, and DSM-IV criteria for depressive personality disorder were not yet available at the time the study was undertaken. Conclusion: These findings are consistent with the view that depressive personality is part of a spec trum of mood disorders with a shared familial liability, but suggest that t his link is strongest with chronic forms of depression such as DD and doubl e depression. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.