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Original Article
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| Etiology of hypochondriasis: A preliminary behavioral-genetic investigation |
| Steven Taylor1, Gordson JG Asmundson2 |
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1Department of Psychiatry, 2255 Wesbrook Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 2A1.
2Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada, S4S 0A2. |
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Article ID: 100002IJGGTST2012
doi:10.5348/ijggt-2012-2-OA-1 |
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Address correspondence to: Steven Taylor, Ph.D Professor, Department of Psychiatry 2255 Wesbrook Mall, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC Canada, V6T 2A1 Phone: 604-785-7558 Fax: 604-785-7558 Email: taylor@unixg.ubc.ca |
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| How to cite this article: |
| Taylor S, Asmundson GJG. Etiology of hypochondriasis: A preliminary behavioral-genetic investigation. International Journal of Genetics and Gene Therapy 2012;2:1–5. |
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Abstract
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Introduction:
Hypochondriasis is a severe mental disorder of unknown etiology. Aims: To investigate the role of genetic and environmental factors in hypochondriasis.
Methods: A community sample of 167 pairs of monozygotic twins and 140 pairs of dizygotic twins completed the Illness Attitude Scales. Two empirically validated methods were used to identify cases of hypochondriasis; that is, "caseness" classifications, representing clinically significant (i.e. full or subsyndromal) hypochondriasis. Biometric structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relative importance of additive genetic factors, and shared and nonshared environmental factors. Results: Hypochondriasis was highly heritable; additive genetic factors accounted for 54 to 69% of variance, depending on assessment method. Remaining variance was due to nonshared environment (i.e., environmental factors not shared by members of a given twin pair, such as illnesses experienced only by one member of a given twin pair). Effects of shared environment (factors affecting both twins of a given twin pair) accounted for no variance. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to estimate the role of genetic and environmental factors for hypochondriasis (defined in terms of caseness). Results highlight the importance of genetic factors. The findings also partially support contemporary cognitive-behavioral models, which emphasize the role of maladaptive learning through environmental experiences. That is, results are consistent with the role of personal illness (e.g., childhood hospitalizations). However, the results do not support the role of parental modeling or parenting styles that lead the child to view oneself as sickly or highly vulnerable to disease (shared environmental factors). | |
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Key Words:
Behavioral genetics, Health anxiety, Heritability, Hypochondriasis, Illness Attitude Scales, Twins
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Author Contributions:
Steven Taylor - Conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published Gordon JG Asmundson - Conception and design, Drafting the article, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published |
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Guarantor of submission:
The corresponding author is the guarantor of submission. |
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Source of support:
None |
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Conflict of interest:
Authors declare no conflict of interest. |
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Copyright:
© Steven Taylor et al. 2012; This article is distributed the terms of Creative Commons attribution 3.0 License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any means provided the original authors and original publisher are properly credited. (Please see Copyright Policy for more information.) |
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