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Behavioral Neurobiology of Eating Disorders pp 141–156Cite as

The Heritability of Eating Disorders: Methods and Current Findings

Part of the Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences book series (CTBN,volume 6)

Abstract

Family, twin, and adoption studies of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder (BED), and the proposed purging disorder presentation (PD) have consistently demonstrated that genetic factors contribute to the variance in liability to eating disorders. In addition, endophenotypes and component phenotypes of eating disorders have been evaluated and provide further insight regarding genetic factors influencing eating disorders and eating disorder diagnostic criteria. Many of these phenotypes have demonstrated substantial heritability. This chapter reviews biometrical genetic methods and current findings from family and twin studies that investigate the role of genes and environment in the etiology of eating disorders. We review the methodology used to estimate heritability, the results of these studies, and discuss the implications of this research for the basic conceptualization of eating disorders and the future value of twin modeling in the molecular genetic era.

Keywords

  • Anorexia nervosa
  • Bulimia nervosa
  • Eating disorders
  • Endophenotypes
  • Twin models

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Abbreviations

A:

Additive genetic effects

a2 :

Proportion of variance due to additive genetic effects

AN:

Anorexia nervosa

BED:

Binge eating disorder

BMI:

Body mass index

BN:

Bulimia nervosa

C:

Shared environmental effects

c2 :

Proportion of variance due to shared environmental effects

CI:

95% Confidence interval

DZ:

Dizygotic

E:

Unique environmental effects

e2 :

Proportion of variance due to unique environmental effects

EDE:

Eating Disorders Examination

EDI:

Eating Disorder Inventory

IWL:

Intentional weight loss

MZ:

Monozygotic

PD:

Purging disorder

TFEQ:

Three Factor Eating Questionnaire

V:

Variance in liability to a disorder

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 101 Manning Drive, CB #7160, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7160, USA

    Laura M. Thornton & Cynthia M. Bulik

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284-2018, USA

    Suzanne E. Mazzeo

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  1. Laura M. Thornton
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  2. Suzanne E. Mazzeo
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  3. Cynthia M. Bulik
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Correspondence to Laura M. Thornton .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience, Dept. Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of, Universiteitsweg 100, Utrecht, 3508 AB, Netherlands

    Roger A.H. Adan

  2. Dept. Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla Drive 8950, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA

    Walter H. Kaye

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Thornton, L.M., Mazzeo, S.E., Bulik, C.M. (2010). The Heritability of Eating Disorders: Methods and Current Findings. In: Adan, R., Kaye, W. (eds) Behavioral Neurobiology of Eating Disorders. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2010_91

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