TY - JOUR
T1 - Connecting Loneliness With Pathological Personality Traits
T2 - Evidence for Genetic and Environmental Mediation From a Study of Older Twins
AU - Freilich, Colin D.
AU - McGue, Matt
AU - South, Susan C.
AU - Roisman, Glenn I.
AU - Krueger, Robert F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Loneliness has broad public health importance, especially in older adulthood, and there is some evidence suggesting it is associated with several personality disorders (PDs). The etiology of these PD-loneliness associations, however, has rarely been studied, especially in the context of the maladaptive traits of the DSM-5 alternative model of personality disorder (AMPD). To address these limitations, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and unique environmental associations between loneliness and maladaptive personality traits in a sample of older adults from the Minnesota Twin Registry (n =1,356, Mage = 70.4). Loneliness was moderately to strongly associated with each of the AMPD domains of negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism (r =.22–.58), with evidence of both genetic (rg =.45–.75) and unique environmental (re =.10–.48) influences explaining the associations to varying degrees. We argue that loneliness may be an underappreciated concomitant of personality pathology, with PD traits perhaps underlying its development. Indeed, these findings suggest that loneliness may be a manifestation of the genetic and environmental forces that also lead to pathological personality variation.
AB - Loneliness has broad public health importance, especially in older adulthood, and there is some evidence suggesting it is associated with several personality disorders (PDs). The etiology of these PD-loneliness associations, however, has rarely been studied, especially in the context of the maladaptive traits of the DSM-5 alternative model of personality disorder (AMPD). To address these limitations, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and unique environmental associations between loneliness and maladaptive personality traits in a sample of older adults from the Minnesota Twin Registry (n =1,356, Mage = 70.4). Loneliness was moderately to strongly associated with each of the AMPD domains of negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism (r =.22–.58), with evidence of both genetic (rg =.45–.75) and unique environmental (re =.10–.48) influences explaining the associations to varying degrees. We argue that loneliness may be an underappreciated concomitant of personality pathology, with PD traits perhaps underlying its development. Indeed, these findings suggest that loneliness may be a manifestation of the genetic and environmental forces that also lead to pathological personality variation.
KW - alternative model for personality disorder
KW - biometric model
KW - loneliness
KW - personality
KW - personality inventory for DSM-5
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U2 - 10.1037/per0000635
DO - 10.1037/per0000635
M3 - Article
C2 - 37498698
AN - SCOPUS:85173743967
SN - 1949-2715
VL - 15
SP - 34
EP - 45
JO - Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment
JF - Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment
IS - 1
ER -