From mother to daughter. Psychic disease: genetic or environmental influence?

Abstract

The problem of genetic versus environmental influences in psychiatric disorders is widely discussed in biomedical literature, but remains still controversial. Familiarity has been observed in some disesase, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attack disorder. In this study we analyse three generations of women, for a total of 4 women (a mother, her two daughters, and a granddaughter) followed by our Psychiatric Department for depressive and anxiety disorders. The aim of the study was to assess wheather there are similarities among the clinical status of the four women, and verify the relationship among those disorders. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to all the patients and the scores obtained were compared. We found out that the many aspects and psychological traits were present in all the four women. These similarities suggest the presence of a dynamic trans-generational transmission.