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S Torgersen

Publications and source records attributed to S Torgersen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Childhood and family characteristics in panic and generalized anxiety disorders.

The author compared 32 patients who had generalized anxiety disorders with 29 patients who had panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks. He observed that patients with generalized anxiety disorder more often had lost their fathers and/or mothers before the age of 16 years, whereas patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks had more often experienced chronic anxiety in childhood. More parents and siblings of patients with panic disorder had affective disorders and alcohol abuse than did parents and siblings of patients with anxiety disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Relationship of schizotypal personality disorder to schizophrenia: genetics.

The adoptive, family, and twin studies show that schizotypal personality features are found among the relatives of schizophrenics. However, it has not been shown that there is a higher risk of schizophrenia among the relatives of schizotypals. An explanation may be that the current DSM-III criteria of schizotypal personality disorder do not adequately define schizotypals genetically related to schizophrenia. While some of the cases that meet DSM-III criteria are within the schizophrenia spectrum, others are unrelated to schizophrenia. There is reason to believe that schizotypals characterized by distant relationship to others, suspiciousness, eccentricity, peculiar communication, and dysfunctional school and work performance are within the schizophrenic sphere, while individuals with psychotic-like symptoms phenomenologically similar to schizophrenia and diagnosed as schizotypal personality disorders in DSM-III represent decompensation of other personality disorders.

Adoption↗
PubMed1985

Developmental differentiation of anxiety and affective neuroses.

One hundred and fifty anxiety neurotic and neurotic depressive twin probands were differentiated into three groups by means of discriminant analysis, 50 in each group. The groups were named pure anxiety neurosis, mixed anxiety-depression and pure neurotic depression. Childhood environmental factors seemed important in the development of pure neurotic depression, while mixed anxiety-depression seemed to be determined by environmental factors in adult life. Further investigation showed that loss of a parent before the age of 16, and moving before the age of 14 seemed important in the development of pure neurotic depression. Loss, or threat of loss, of love objects appeared to be the most common precipitating event for the neurotic depression and mixed anxiety-depression groups, while pregnancy and childbirth seemed to be of great significance in the development of pure anxiety neuroses. Furthermore, unmarried status was most frequent in the mixed anxiety-depressive group of probands.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Hereditary differentiation of anxiety and affective neuroses.

One hundred and fifty anxiety neurotic and neurotic depressive twin probands were differentiated into three groups by means of discriminant analysis, 50 in each group. The groups were named: pure anxiety neurosis, mixed anxiety-depression, and pure neurotic depression. Analysis of concordance rates indicated that only pure anxiety neurosis seemed to be influenced by hereditary factors.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1984

Genetic and nosological aspects of schizotypal and borderline personality disorders. A twin study.

The aim of this study was to investigate etiological and nosological aspects of the schizotypal and borderline personality disorders. The sample consisted of 44 schizotypal, 15 schizotypal and borderline, and ten borderline same-sexed twin probands. The investigation of the co-twins indicated that genetic factors seemed to influence the development of the schizotypal, but not the borderline, personality disorders. The basic genetic core of the schizotypal syndrome seemed to consist of schizoid and paranoidlike features, and not psychoticlike cognitive and perceptual distortions. The study did not indicate any relationship between schizotypal and borderline personality disorders and affective and schizophrenic disorders. Further research is needed to confirm the independent status of the schizotypal syndrome in relation to the schizoid, avoidant, and paranoid personality disorders, and the borderline syndrome in relation to the histrionic , narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Genetic factors in anxiety disorders.

We investigated genetic factors in the determination of anxiety disorders in a study of 32 monozygotic (MZ) and 53 dizygotic (DZ) adult same-sexed twins. The frequency of anxiety disorders was twice as high in MZ as in DZ co-twins of the total proband group, alike in the MZ and DZ co-twins of the generalized anxiety disorder proband group, and three times as high in MZ as in DZ co-twins of the other proband groups. Anxiety disorders with panic attacks were more than five times as frequent in MZ as in DZ co-twins in a combined group of probands with panic disorders and agoraphobia with panic attacks. For generalized anxiety disorder, genetic factors were not apparent, while genetic factors were not apparent, while genetic factors appear to influence the development of the other anxiety disorders, especially panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Genetics of neurosis. The effects of sampling variation upon the twin concordance ratio.

In a study of 229 neurotic same-sex adult twins admitted to all psychiatric in- and out-patient clinics and mental hospitals in Norway, a statistically significant, moderately higher concordance was found for MZ than for DZ twins. When the sample was subdivided, this higher concordance for MZ pairs was true only for male twins and for twins admitted to mental hospitals. The results are compared to those from earlier studies; different findings on the importance of genetic factors in the development of neuroses may be due to differences in sample selection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

The oral, obsessive, and hysterical personality syndromes. A study of hereditary and environmental factors by means of the twin method.

Lazare et al have demonstrated a factor structure similar to the oral, obsessive, and hysterical personality syndromes in a female patient population. The factor structure has been replicated in a sample of 99 predominantly "normal" females and male twin pairs. Furthermore, it was found that hysterical traits in female subjects and oral traits in male subjects seemed to have a genetic component. The study also indicated that environmental factors from an early age influence the development of the personality structure.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Hereditary-environmental differentiation of general neurotic, obsessive, and impulsive hysterical personality traits.

The inheritance of General Neurotic, Obsessive, and Impulsive Hysterical personality traits has been studied in a sampling of 260 female and male adult same-sexed twins. At least one of the twins in each pair had been treated for neurotic or borderline disorders. The results showed that the General neurotic and the obsessive personality factor had a significantly but moderately high hereditary component. The same was also true for more than half of the 17 separate personality scales. No personality scales emerged as highly hereditary. Therefore, each item was analyzed separately, and items classified as either distinctly hereditary or environmental were placed in each of these two groups. The items of the two groups were separately factor-analyzed, and three hereditary and three environmental main factors emerged. The hereditary factors seemed to represent a basic core in the three personality factors of the total questionnaire, whereas the environmental factors could be explained as derivatives of early representation of the basic hereditary core, influenced by familial and cultural patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

The determination of twin zygosity by means of a mailed questionnaire.

A mailed questionnaire dealing with similarity in childhood, and how often and by whom the twins were mixed up, was applied to 290 same-sex adult twin pairs. For about 75% of pairs ten genetic markers were analysed. The agreement in zygosity classification between questionnaire and blood typing was high. Irrespective of whether raw scores of discriminant function analysis was applied, the agreement was nearly 95%. When a decision tree was applied, the percentage rose to nearly 96%. Considering that probably four of the twin pairs were wrongly classified as MZ by genetic markers, the percentage rose to 96 and 98, respectively.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The nature and origin of common phobic fears.

By means of a twin study an attempt was made to throw light upon the aetiology and nosology of phobic fears. Factor analyses revealed five factors, namely separation fears, animal fears, mutilation fears, social fears and nature fears. The study demonstrated that, apart from separation fears, genetic factors play a part in the strength as well as content of phobic fears. Environmental factors, affecting the development of dependence, reserve and neurotic traits generally, seemed also to be of some importance. It was further demonstrated that phobic fears were related to emotional and social adjustment and this was true to an even greater extent for separation fears.

Adult↗