Personality disorders in adopted versus non-adopted adults

Abstract

The goal of this epidemiological study was to investigate lifetime history and odds ratios of personality disorders in adopted and non-adopted adults using a nationally representative sample. Data, drawn from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), were compared in adopted (n=378) versus non-adopted (n=42,503) adults to estimate the odds of seven personality disorders using logistic regression analyses. The seven personality disorders were histrionic, antisocial, avoidant, paranoid, schizoid, obsessive–compulsive, and dependent personality disorder. Adoptees had a 1.81-fold increase in the odds of any personality disorder compared with non-adoptees. Adoptees had increased odds of histrionic, antisocial, avoidant, paranoid, schizoid, and obsessive–compulsive personality disorder compared with non-adoptees. Two risk factors associated with lifetime history of a personality disorder in adoptees compared to non-adoptees were (1) being in the age cohort 18–29 years (but no difference in the age 30–44 cohort), using the age 45 or older cohort as the reference and (2) having 12 years of education (but no difference in higher education groups), using the 0–11 years of education as the reference. These findings support the higher rates of personality disorders among adoptees compared to non-adoptees.