ArticlePsychological medicine2021
Genetic and environmental contributions to diagnostic fluctuation in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bulimia nervosa.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Exploring the Genetic Overlap Between Metabolic Traits and Anorexia Nervosa.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Genomic meta-analyses of binge-eating behavior and anorexia nervosa yield insights into the unique and shared biology of eating disorder phenotypes.Nature. Mental health · 2026Article
- Associations between weight bias internalization, weight status, and health among a diverse cohort of freshman college students.Journal of American college health : J of ACH · 2025Article
- Neurobiology and Cognition in Girls at High-Risk of Eating Disorders: Exploring Imaging-Derived Trait Markers.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025Article
- Optimising Psychosocial Interventions for People With Severe and Enduring Eating Disorders (SEED) Perspectives of Healthcare Professionals in Ireland: A Qualitative Study.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Common Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Anxiety Sensitivity, Anxiety, and Cognitive Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Adolescence.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Article
- The gut microbiota's role in bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: etiological insights and therapeutic implications from a scoping review.Neuroscience applied · 2025Review
- Exploring the self-perceived causes of eating disorders among Chinese social media users with self-reported eating disorders.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Multivariate patterns linking brain microstructure to temperament and behavior in adolescent eating disorders.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Diagnosed eating disorders in Danish registers - incidence, prevalence, mortality, and polygenic risk.Psychiatry research · 2024Article
- Interplay of polygenic liability with birth-related, somatic, and psychosocial factors in anorexia nervosa risk: a nationwide study.Psychological medicine · 2024Article
- Sociodemographic correlates of parent and youth-reported eating disorder symptoms in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- The multisensory mind: a systematic review of multisensory integration processing in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Review
- Mechanisms by which adverse childhood experiences, other traumas and PTSD influence the health and well-being of individuals with eating disorders throughout the life span.Journal of eating disorders · 2022Review
- Gene variants in eating disorders. Focus on anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2022Review
- Genetics of eating disorders in the genome-wide era.Psychological medicine · 2021Review
- One size does not fit all. Genomics differentiates among anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.The International journal of eating disorders · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are two severe eating disorders associated with high premature mortality, suicidal risk and serious medical complications. Transition between anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa over the illness course and familial co-aggregation of the two eating disorders imply aetiological overlap. However, genetic and environmental liabilities to the overlap are poorly understood. Quantitative genetic research using clinical diagnosis is needed.
methodsWe acquired a clinical diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (prevalence = 0.90%) and bulimia nervosa (prevalence = 0.48%) in a large population-based sample (N = 782 938) of randomly selected full-sisters and maternal half-sisters born in Sweden between 1970 and 2005. Structural equation modelling was applied to quantify heritability of clinically diagnosed anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and the contributions of genetic and environmental effects on their overlap.
resultsThe heritability of clinically diagnosed anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa was estimated at 43% [95% confidence interval (CI) (36-50%)] and 41% (31-52%), respectively, in the study population, with the remaining variance explained by variance in unique environmental effects. We found statistically significant genetic [0.66, 95% CI (0.49-0.82)] and unique environmental correlations [0.55 (0.43-0.66)] between the two clinically diagnosed eating disorders; and their overlap was about equally explained by genetic and unique environmental effects [co-heritability 47% (35-58%)].
conclusionsOur study supports shared mechanisms for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and extends the literature from self-reported behavioural measures to clinical diagnosis. The findings encourage future molecular genetic research on both eating disorders and emphasize clinical vigilance for symptom fluctuation between them.
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