September 25, 2012

Heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits




 A new twin study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that the heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits might be higher than previously reported.

Avoidant and dependent personality disorders are characterized by anxious or fearful traits. As the names imply, people with avoidant personality disorder are often anxious in the company of others and therefore prefer to be alone, while people with dependent personality disorder feel more secure in the company of others and tend to need other people for decision making and excessive support.