Genetic and environmental associations between body dissatisfaction, weight preoccupation, and binge eating: Evidence for a common factor with differential loadings across symptom type.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Prior twin studies provide support for a single "common factor" that contributes genetic and environmental risk to a range of disordered eating symptoms. However, the common factor may be indexed less well by binge eating (BE) than other symptoms of eating disorders [i.e., body dissatisfaction (BD) and weight preoccupation (WP)]. We sought to explore the presence of a common factor and test whether loadings differed across three key symptoms (i.e., BE, BD, WP).

Method

Disordered eating was assessed via self-report in 631 female twin pairs from the Michigan State University Twin Registry.

Results

We detected a common disordered eating factor that was influenced primarily by additive genetic and nonshared environmental influences. However, we observed differen

SUBMITTER: O'Connor SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5291810 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature