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. 2015 Sep;48(6):601-6.
doi: 10.1002/eat.22378. Epub 2015 Mar 25.

Prevalence of and familial influences on purging disorder in a community sample of female twins

Melissa A Munn-Chernoff  1 , Pamela K Keel  2 , Kelly L Klump  3 , Julia D Grant  1 , Kathleen K Bucholz  1 , Pamela A F Madden  1 , Andrew C Heath  1 , Alexis E Duncan  1   4
Affiliations

Prevalence of and familial influences on purging disorder in a community sample of female twins

Melissa A Munn-Chernoff et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: Purging disorder (PD) was recently included as an otherwise specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) in the DSM-5; however, limited information is available on its prevalence, and its etiology is unknown.

Method: Data from 1,790 monozygotic and 1,440 dizygotic European American female twins (age range = 18-29 years) from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study were used to investigate prevalence and familial influences for PD. A structured clinical interview assessed lifetime DSM-IV criteria for eating disorders and PD. After adjustment for age, twin correlations and biometrical twin models were used to estimate familial (i.e., genetic plus shared environmental) influences on PD.

Results: One hundred and twenty one (3.77%; 95% CI: 3.14, 4.49) women met criteria for lifetime PD. Twin correlations suggested that genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental factors influenced liability to PD. Nonshared environmental factors accounted for 56% [35%, 79%] of the variance in PD. Although familial effects accounted for a significant proportion of variance (44% [21%, 65%]), it was not possible to disentangle the independent contributions of additive genetic effects (20% [0%, 65%]) and shared environmental effects (24% [0%, 57%]).

Discussion: PD is a prevalent form of eating pathology. Familial factors are relevant to the development of PD but do not demonstrate the magnitude of heritable factors found for other eating disorders.

Keywords: eating disorders; genetics; purging disorder; twins; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no other conflicts of interest.

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