Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:35:51.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic epidemiology of binging and vomiting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Patrick F. Sullivan ,
Cynthia M. Bulik  and
Kenneth S. Kendler
Patrick F. Sullivan*
Affiliation:
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University
Cynthia M. Bulik
Affiliation:
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University
Kenneth S. Kendler
Affiliation:
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University
*
Dr Sullivan, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, PO Box 980126, Richmond, VA, 23298-0126. USA. Tel: 804 828 8129: Fax: 804 828 1471
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Bulimia nervosa is typically defined as the combination of the behaviours of binging and vomiting. We sought to clarify the relationship of these behaviours from a genetic epidemiological perspective.

Method

Using data on the lifetime history of binging and vomiting from a personally interviewed population-based sample of female twins (n = 1897), we applied bivariate twin modelling to estimate the sources of variation for these traits.

Results

The association between having ever binged (23.6%) and having ever induced vomiting (4.8%) was very strong (odds ratio=8.78, P < 0.0001). The best-fitting model indicated that lifetime binging and vomiting were both heritable (46% and 72%) and influenced by individual-specific environmental factors (54% and 28%). The overlap between the genetic (ra = 0.74) and individual-specific environmental factors (re = 0.48) for the two traits was substantial. No violations of the equal environment assumption were evident.

Conclusions

Including binging and vomiting under the rubric of bulimia nervosa appears to be appropriate. Our data are consistent with the identification of binging and vomiting as complex traits resulting from the interplay of multiple genes and individual-specific environmental influences. In contrast to ‘environmentalist’ theories, our results suggest that genetic influences may be of particular relevance to the aetiology of binging and vomiting.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 173 , Issue 1 , July 1998 , pp. 75 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akiake, H. (1987) Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika, 52, 317–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn. revised) (DSM—III—R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn) (DSM-IV). Washington. DC: APA.Google Scholar
Beglin, S. J. & Fairburn, C. G. (1992) What is meant by the term “binge”. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 123–124.Google ScholarPubMed
Cooper, Z. & Fab-burn, C. G. (1987) The Eating Disorder Examination: a semi-structured interview for the assessment of the specific psychopathology of eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 6, 1–8.3.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eaves, L. J. Eysenck, H. G. & Martin, N. G. (1989) Genes, Culture, and Personality: An Empirical Approach. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hettema, J. M. Neale, M. C. & Kendler, K. S. (1995) Physical similarity and the equal-environment assumption in twin studies of psychiatric disorders. Behavior Genetics, 25, 327–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, C. Lewis, C. & Hagman, J. (1984) The syndrome of bulimia. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 7, 247–273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jöreskog, K. G. & Sörbom, D. (1993) PRELIS 2: User's Reference Guide. Chicago. IL: Scientific Software International.Google Scholar
Kendler, K. S. (1983) Overview: a current perspective on twin studies of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 1413–1425.Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. (1993) Twin studies of psychiatric illness: current status and future directions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 905–915.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. & Eaves, L. J. (1986) Models for the joint effect of genotype and environment on liability to psychiatric illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 279–289.Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. Maclean, C. Neale, M. et al (1991) The genetic epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1627–1637.Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. Walters, E. E. Neale, M. C. et al (1995) The structure of the genetic and environmental risk factors for six major psychiatric disorders in women: phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, bulimia, major depression, and alcoholism. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 374–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. & Gardener, C. O. (1998) Twin studies of adult psychiatric and substance dependence disorders: are they biased by differences in the environmental experiences of mono- and dizygotic twins in childhood and adolescence. Psychological Medicine, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neale, M. C. (1997) Mx: Statistical Modeling (2nd edn). Richmond, VA: Medical College of Virginia. Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Neale, M. C. & Cardon, L. R. (1992) Methodology for the Study of Twins and Families. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publisher Group.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neale, M. C. Eaves, L. J. & Kendler, K. S. (1994) The power of the classical twin study to resolve variation in threshold traits. Behavior Genetics, 24, 239–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neale, M. C. & Miller, M. B. (1997) The use of likelihood-based confidence intervals in genetic models. Behavior Genetics, 27, 113–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polivy, J. & Herman, C. P. (1985) Dieting and binging: a causal analysis. American Psychologist, 40, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SAS Institute Inc (1996) SAS/STATR Software: Changes and Enhancements through Release 6.11. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Schmidt, U. Tiller, J. & Treasure, J. (1993) Psychosocial factors in the origins of bulimia nervosa. International Review of Psychiatry, 5, 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, J. E. Corey, L. A. Nance, W. E. et al (1988) Molecular analysis of twin zygosity using VNTR DNA probes. American Journal of Human Genetics, 43, 159.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L. Williams, J. B. W. Gibbon, M. et al (1992) The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM—III—R (SCID) I: history, rationale, and description. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 624–629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Striegel-Moore, R. H. Silberstein, L. R. & Rodin, J. (1986) Toward an understanding of risk factors for bulimia. American Psychologist, 41, 246–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sullivan, P. F. Bulik, C. M. & Kendler, K. S. (1998) The epidemiology and classification of bulimia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yates, A. (1989) Current perspectives on the eating disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 813–828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zerbe, K. J. (1996) Feminist psychodynamic psychotherapy of eating disorders: theoretical integration informing clinical practice. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19, 811–827.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.