Investigating Relationships Between Genetic Risk, Childhood Maltreatment, and Eating Disorders in Women

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Genetics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Genetic and environmental factors influence eating disorder (ED) risk.
• The interplay between childhood maltreatment and genetic predisposition for EDs is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between childhood maltreatment and polygenic scores for anorexia nervosa (PGS-AN) and binge-eating disorders (PGS-BEB) with EDs.
• To examine potential interactions between childhood maltreatment and PGSs in predicting EDs.

Main Methods:

• A nested case-control study utilized data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) involving up to 63,989 mothers.
• Mothers reported on four types of childhood maltreatment.
• Eating disorder diagnoses (AN, BN, BED, PD, BESP) were ascertained via self-report and health registers.

Main Results:

• All types of childhood maltreatment were significantly associated with increased odds of EDs (ORs 1.71–3.29).
• Eating disorder polygenic scores (PGSs) were also associated with higher ED likelihood (ORs 1.05–1.31).
• No multiplicative interactions were found, but small additive interactions were observed between PGS-AN/PGS-BEB and degradation/humiliation for BN and BESP.

Conclusions:

• Both childhood maltreatment and eating disorder PGSs are independently associated with elevated ED risk.
• Tentative evidence suggests small additive interactions between polygenic liability and childhood maltreatment, potentially increasing risk for certain EDs.