Familial aggregation of eating disorders: Results from a controlled familystudy of bulimia nervosa

Objective: While familial aggregation of bulimia nervosa (BN) is known to o ccur, the extent to which aggregation of a broader spectrum of eating disor ders (ED) occurs in the families of individuals with BN is less certain. Me thod: Direct interviews and blind best estimate diagnostic procedures were used to assess lifetime histories of EDs among first-degree relatives (n = 177) of probands with BN (n = 47) and first-degree relatives (n = 190) of n on-ED control probands (n = 44). Results: Forty-three percent of sisters an d 26% of mothers of BN probands had a lifetime ED diagnosis, with eating di sorder not otherwise specified (ED-NOS) diagnoses being most common. These rates were significantly higher than among sisters (5%) and mothers (5%) of controls. Few male relatives of either cohort had an ED. Conclusions: Diag nostic assessment using contemporary family-epidemiology methodology reveal ed very strong familial aggregation of a broad spectrum of EDs among female relatives of women with BN. (C) 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.