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. 2021 May-Jun;29(3):226-244.
doi: 10.1080/10640266.2020.1864587. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Genetic and environmental influences on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and disinhibited eating behaviors

Niloofar Afari  1   2   3 , Marianna Gasperi  1   2   3 , Cara Dochat  3   4 , Jennalee S Wooldridge  1   2   3 , Matthew S Herbert  1   2   3 , Ellen A Schur  5 , Dedra S Buchwald  6
Affiliations

Genetic and environmental influences on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and disinhibited eating behaviors

Niloofar Afari et al. Eat Disord. 2021 May-Jun.

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and eating disorders (ED) frequently co-occur, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. EDs are characterized by features of maladaptive eating behaviors including disinhibited eating and cognitive dietary restraint. Identifying the genetic overlap between PTSD symptoms and maladaptive eating behaviors may elucidate biological mechanisms and potential treatment targets. A community sample of 400 same-sex twins (102 monozygotic and 98 dizygotic pairs) completed the PTSD Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C) for PTSD symptoms and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-Reduced (TFEQ-R18) for eating behaviors (uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, and cognitive dietary restraint). We used biometric modeling to examine the genetic and environmental relationships between PCL-C and TFEQ-R18 total and subscales scores. Heritability was estimated at 48% for PTSD symptoms and 45% for eating behavior overall. Bivariate models revealed a significant genetic correlation between PTSD symptoms and eating behavior overall (rg =.34; CI:.07,.58) and Uncontrolled Eating (rg =.53; CI:.24,.84), and a significant environmental correlation between PTSD symptoms and Emotional Eating (re =.30; CI:.12,.45). These findings suggest the influence of common etiology. Future research and clinical efforts should focus on developing integrated treatments.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Path diagram of the bivariate Cholesky decomposition (a) of PCL-C and TFEQ-R18 eating variables and the correlated factors model (b). For simplicity, only one twin of a pair is shown. Variance of each phenotype (in squares) is decomposed into A = additive genetic influences, C = shared environmental influences, E = non-shared environmental influences (in circles). Within the Cholesky decomposition (a), paths a11, c11, and e11 are influences on PCL-C, diagonal paths a21, c21, e21 are influences on the covariance between PCL-C and TFEQ-R18 eating variables, and paths a22, c22, e22 are influences unique to eating variables. Parameter estimates from the Cholesky decomposition are used to construct other quantities of interest depicted in the correlated factors model (b), including the genetic correlation (rg) and environmental correlations (rc, re).
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