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Toward an understanding of risk factors for anorexia nervosa: a case-control study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2007

K. M. Pike ,
A. Hilbert ,
D. E. Wilfley ,
C. G. Fairburn ,
F.-A. Dohm ,
B. T. Walsh  and
R. Striegel-Moore
K. M. Pike*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, NY, USA
A. Hilbert
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Philipps University of Marburg, Germany
D. E. Wilfley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St Louis, MO, USA
C. G. Fairburn
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
F.-A. Dohm
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions, Fairfield University, CT, USA
B. T. Walsh
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, NY, USA
R. Striegel-Moore
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr K. M. Pike, Department of Psychiatry, Unit 98, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1051 Riverside Drive, NY, NY 10032, USA. (Email: kmp2@columbia.edu)
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Abstract

Background

Prospective, longitudinal studies of risk factors for anorexia nervosa (AN) are lacking and existing cross-sectional studies are generally narrow in focus and lack methodological rigor. Building on two studies that used the Oxford Risk Factor Interview (RFI) to establish time precedence and comprehensively assess potential risk correlates for AN, the present study advances this line of research and represents the first case-control study of risk factors for AN in the USA.

Method

The RFI was used for retrospective assessment of a broad range of risk factors, while establishing time precedence. Using a case-control design, 50 women who met DSM-IV criteria for AN were compared to those with non-eating disorder DSM-IV psychiatric disorders (n=50) and those with no psychiatric disorder (n=50).

Results

Women with psychiatric disorders reported higher rates of negative affectivity, maternal and paternal parenting problems, family discord, parental mood and substance disorder, and physical and sexual abuse than women with no psychiatric disorder. Women with AN specifically reported greater severity and significantly higher rates of negative affectivity, perfectionism and family discord, and higher parental demands than women with other psychiatric disorders. The role of weight and shape concerns was most salient in the year preceding onset of AN.

Conclusions

Convergent data identifying common risk factors as well as those more severe in the development of AN are emerging to inform longitudinal risk factor and prevention studies for this disorder.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosaeating disordersetiologyrisk factors
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 10 , October 2008 , pp. 1443 - 1453
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Cambridge University Press

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