Substantial Genetic Overlap Between Schizotypy and Neuroticism: A Twin Study

Abstract

Schizotypy is phenotypically associated with neuroticism. To reveal the origin of this association, we assessed 3,349 (1,449 monozygotic, 1,105 dizygotic [DZ] same-sex and 795 DZ opposite-sex) twins on a 12-item version of Chapman's Psychosis-Proneness Scales and the short form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised as measures of schizotypy and neuroticism. A substantial proportion (0.51 with 95 % CI from 0.38 to 0.64) of the phenotypic correlation of 0.37 between neuroticism and the perceptual and ideational components of schizotypy was accounted for by shared genetic influences on these two traits. Moreover, a Cholesky decomposition including anhedonia, hypomania and impulsivity fully accounted for the heritable variance in perceptual and ideational components of schizotypy. These findings suggest a shared genetic etiology between neuroticism and perceptual and ideational components of schizotypy and affect future investigations on the etiology of these phenotypically overlapping traits and affective and psychotic disorders.