Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Bulimic Behaviors and Alcohol Use: Shared Genetic Influences

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Behavior Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bulimic behaviors are frequently associated with alcohol use disorders. However, extant family and twin study findings have been inconsistent with regard to whether these behaviors share etiologic influences. A sample of 292 young adult, female twins was used to examine genetic and environmental factors underlying the association between binge eating and compensatory behaviors (e.g., vomiting) and alcohol use. Binge eating and compensatory behaviors were assessed using the Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey. Alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Univariate models indicated that the heritability of binge eating, compensatory behaviors, and alcohol use was 41, 28, and 78%, respectively, with the remaining variance due to nonshared environmental effects. Bivariate models indicated that there was a moderate-to-large degree of overlap (genetic correlation = 0.31–0.61) in additive genetic factors between alcohol use and binge eating and compensatory behaviors, and no overlap in environmental effects. Findings suggest that these phenotypes co-aggregate in families and that similar genes or heritable traits may be contributing to their co-occurrence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The Minnesota eating behavior survey (MEBS; previously known as the Minnesota Eating Disorder Inventory (M-EDI)) was adapted and reproduced by special permission of Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., 16204 North Florida Avenue, Lutz, Florida 33549, from the Eating Disorder Inventory (collectively, EDI and EDI-2) by Garner, Olmstead, Polivy, Copyright 1983 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Further reproduction of the MEBS is prohibited without prior permission from Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.

  2. Analyses using raw MEBS subscales and the AUDIT score did not differ from those with BMI regressed out.

References

  • Akaike H (1987) Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika 52:317–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn (text revision) American Psychiatric Press, Washington

  • Baker JH, Mitchell KS, Neale MC, Kendler KS (2010) Eating disorder symptomatology and substance use disorders: Prevalence and shared risk in a population based twin sample. Int J Eat Disord 43:648–658

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bulik CM (1987) Drug and alcohol abuse by bulimic women and their families. Am J Psychiatry 144:1604–1606

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Kendler KS (1998) Heritability of binge-eating and broadly defined bulimia nervosa. Biol Psychiatry 44:1210–1218

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Kendler KS (2003) Genetic and environmental contributions to obesity and binge eating. Int J Eat Disord 33:293–298

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Tozzi F, Furberg H, Lichtenstein P, Pedersen NL (2006) Prevalence, heritability, and prospective risk factors for anorexia nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63:305–312

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cassin SE, von Ranson KM (2005) Personality and eating disorders: a decade in review. Clin Psychol Rev 25:895–916

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conigrave KM, Saunders JB, Reznik RB (1995) Predictive capacity of the AUDIT questionnaire for alcohol-related harm. Addiction 90:1479–1485

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crowther JH, Armey M, Luce KH, Dalton GR, Leahey T (2008) The point prevalence of bulimic disorders from 1990 to 2004. Int J Eat Disord 41:491–497

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Culbert KM, Breedlove SM, Burt SA, Klump KL (2008) Prenatal hormone exposure and risk for eating disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry 65:329–336

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan AE, Neuman RJ, Kramer JR, Kuperman S, Hesselbrock VM, Bucholz KK (2006) Lifetime psychiatric comorbidity of alcohol dependence and bulimia nervosa in women. Drug Alcohol Depend 84:122–132

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fairburn CG, Beglin SJ (1994) Assessment of eating disorders: Interview or self-report questionnaire? Int J Eat Disord 16:363–370

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgibbon ML, Spring B, Avellone ME, Blackman LR, Pingitore R, Stolley MR (1998) Correlates of binge eating in hispanic, black, and white women. Int J Eat Disord 24:43–52

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming MF, Barry KL, MacDonald R (1991) The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) in a college sample. Int J Addict 26:1173–1185

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grau E, Ortet G (1999) Personality traits and alcohol consumption in a sample of non-alcoholic women. Pers Indiv Differ 27:1057–1066

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris EC, Barraclough B (1998) Excess mortality of mental disorder. Br J Psychiatry 173:11–53

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hasin DS, Stinson FS, Ogburn E, Grant BF (2007) Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States. Arch Gen Psychiatry 64:830–842

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heath AC, Bucholz KK, Madden PAF, Dinwiddie SH, Slutske WS, Bierut LJ et al (1997) Genetic and environmental contributions to alcohol dependence risk in a national twin sample: consistency of findings in women and men. Psychol Med 27:1381–1396

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holderness CC, Brooks-Gunn J, Warren MP (1994) Co-morbidity of eating disorders and substance abuse review of the literature. Int J Eat Disord 16:1–34

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hollingshead AB (1975) Four factor index of social status. Yale University Sociology Department, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson JI, Hiripi E, Pope HG Jr, Kessler RC (2007) The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Biol Psychiatry 61:348–358

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson WG, Rohan KJ, Kirk AA (2002) Prevalence and correlates of binge eating in white and African American adolescents. Eat Behav 3:179–189

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kassett JA, Gershon ES, Maxwell ME, Guroff JJ, Kazuba DM, Smith AL et al (1989) Psychiatric disorders in the first-degree relatives of probands with bulimia nervosa. Am J Psychiatry 146:1468–1471

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keel PK, Mitchell JE, Miller KB, Davis TL, Crow SJ (1999) Long-term outcome of bulimia nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry 56:63–69

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keel PK, Dorer DJ, Eddy KT, Franko D, Charatan DL, Herzog DB (2003) Predictors of mortality in eating disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60:179–183

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keel PK, Haedt A, Edler C (2005) Purging disorder: an ominous variant of bulimia nervosa? Int J Eat Disord 38:191–199

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Neale MC, Heath AC, Kessler RC, Eaves LJ (1992) A population-based twin study of alcoholism in women. J Am Med Assoc 268:1877–1882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Neale MC, Heath AC, Kessler RC, Eaves LJ (1994) A twin-family study of alcoholism in women. Am J Psychiatry 151:707–715

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Walters EE, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ (1995) The structure of the genetic and environmental risk factors for six major psychiatric disorders in women. Phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, bulimia, major depression, and alcoholism. Arch Gen Psychiatry 52:374–383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klump KL, Burt SA (2006) The Michigan State University Twin Registry (MSUTR): genetic, environmental, and neurobiological influences on behavior across development. Twin Res Hum Genet 9:971–977

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klump KL, McGue M, Iacono WG (2000) Age differences in genetic and environmental influences on eating attitudes and behaviors in preadolescent and adolescent female twins. J Abnorm Psychol 109:239–251

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klump KL, Miller KB, Keel PK, McGue M, Iacono WG (2001) Genetic and environmental influences on anorexia nervosa syndromes in a population-based twin sample. Psychol Med 31:737–740

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klump KL, McGue M, Iacono WG (2002) Genetic relationships between personality and eating attitudes and behaviors. J Abnorm Psychol 111:380–389

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Beck MS, Bryman A, Liao TF (2004) The SAGE encyclopedia of social science research methods, 5th vol. SAGE publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilenfeld LR, Kaye WH, Greeno CG, Merikangas KR, Plotnicov K, Pollice C et al (1997) Psychiatric disorders in women with bulimia nervosa and their first-degree relatives: effects of comorbid substance dependence. Int J Eat Disord 22:253–264

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Little RJA, Rubin DB (1987) Statistical analysis with missing data. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmorstein NR (2009) Longitudinal associations between alcohol problems and depressive symptoms: early adolescence through early adulthood. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 33:49–59

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzeo SE, Mitchell KS, Bulik CM, Aggen SH, Kendler KS, Neale MC (2010) A twin study of specific bulimia nervosa symptoms. Psychol Med 40:1203–1213

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGue M, Iacono WG, Legrand LN, Malone S, Elkins IJ (2001) Origins and consequences of age at first drink. I. Associations with substance-use disorders, disinhibitory behavior, psychopathology, and P3 amplitude. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 25:1156–1165

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell KS, Neale MC, Bulik CM, Aggen SH, Kendler KS, Mazzeo SE (2010) A twin model investigation of the comorbidity of bulimia nervosa and alcohol use disorders. Eating Disorders Research Society Annual Meeting, Cambridge

  • Mond J, Hay P, Rodgers B, Owen C, Crosby R, Mitchell J (2006) Use of extreme weight control behaviors with and without binge eating in a community sample: Implications for the classification of bulimic-type eating disorders. Int J Eat Disord 39:294–302

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neale MC, Boker SM, Xie G, Maes HH (2003) Mx: statistical modeling, 6th edn. Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton GC, Selzer R, Coffey C, Carlin JB, Wolfe R (1999) Onset of adolescent eating disorders: population based cohort study over 3 years. Br Med J 318:765–768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plomin R, DeFries JC, McClearn GE, McGuffin P (2008) Behavioral genetics, 5th edn. Worth Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Prescott CA, Aggen SH, Kendler KS (1999) Sex differences in the sources of genetic liability to alcohol abuse and dependence in a population-based sample of U.S. twins. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 23:1136–1144

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reichborn-Kjennerud T, Bulik CM, Tambs K, Harris JR (2004) Genetic and environmental influences on binge eating in the absence of compensatory behaviors: a population-based twin study. Int J Eat Disord 36:307–314

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders JB, Aasland OG, Babor TF, De La Fuente JR, Grant M (1993) Development of the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption II. Addiction 88:791–804

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sher KJ, Bartholow BD, Wood MD (2000) Personality and substance use disorders: a prospective study. J Consult Clin Psychol 68:818–829

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spanos A, Klump KL, Burt SA, McGue, M, Iacono WG Same beast or different animals? Examining differential etiologic associations between impulsivity and binge eating and compensatory behavior (in preparation)

  • Stice E, Killen JD, Hayward C, Taylor CB (1998) Age of onset for binge eating and purging during late adolescence: A 4-year survival analysis. J Abnorm Psychol 107:671–675

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan PF, Bulik CM, Kendler KS (1998) Genetic epidemiology of binging and vomiting. Br J Psychiatry 173:75–79

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • United States Census Bureau (2008) Michigan median household income. Retrieved from www.census.gov

  • von Ranson KM, Klump KL, Iacono WG, McGue M (2005) The Minnesota eating behavior survey: a brief measure of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Eat Behav 6:373–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wade TD, Treloar S, Martin NG (2008) Shared and unique risk factors between lifetime purging and objective binge eating: a twin study. Psychol Med 38:1455–1464

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield JB, Zhu G, Madden PAF, Neale MC, Heath A, Martin NG (2004) The genetics of alcohol intake and of alcohol dependence. Genetics and molecular biology. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 28:1153–1160

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Rachel Upjohn Building, 4250 Plymouth Road, Office 2433, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2700, USA

    Jennifer D. Slane

  2. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    S. Alexandra Burt & Kelly L. Klump

Authors
  1. Jennifer D. Slane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Alexandra Burt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kelly L. Klump
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer D. Slane.

Additional information

Edited by Yoon-Mi Hur.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Slane, J.D., Burt, S.A. & Klump, K.L. Bulimic Behaviors and Alcohol Use: Shared Genetic Influences. Behav Genet 42, 603–613 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-012-9525-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-012-9525-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation