Family study of the aggregation of eating disorders and mood disorders

Family studies have suggested that eating disorders and mood disorders may coaggregate in families. To study further this question, data from a family interview study of probands with and without major depressive disorder was examined.

A bivariate proband predictive logistic regression model was applied to data from a family interview study, conducted in Innsbruck, Austria, of probands with (N = 64) and without (N = 58) major depressive disorder, together with 330 of their first-degree relatives.

The estimated odds ratio (OR) for the familial aggregation of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder) was 7.0 (95 % CI 1.4, 28; P = 0.006); the OR for the familial aggregation of mood disorders (major depression and bipolar disorder) was 2.2 (0.92, 5.4; P = 0.076); and for the familial coaggregation of eating disorders with mood disorders the OR was 2.2 (1.1, 4.6; P = 0.035).

The familial coaggregation of eating disorders with mood disorders was significant and of the same magnitude as the aggregation of mood disorders alone--suggesting that eating disorders and mood disorders have common familial causal factors.