title: Do eating disorders in parents predict eating disorders in children? Evidence from a Swedish cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether parental eating disorders (ED) predict ED in children, using a large multigeneration register-based sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a subset of the Stockholm Youth Cohort born 1984-1995 and resident in Stockholm County in 2001-2007 (N = 286,232), The exposure was a diagnosed eating disorder in a parent; the outcome was any eating disorder diagnosis in their offspring, given by a specialist clinician, or inferred from an appointment at a specialist eating disorder clinic. A final study sample of 158,697 (55.4%) had data on these variables and confounding factors and contributed a total of 886,241 person years to the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found good evidence in support of the hypothesis that ED in either parent are independently associated with ED in their female children (HR 1.97 (95% CI: 1.17-3.33), P = 0.01) and that ED in mothers are independently associated with ED in their female children (HR 2.35 (95% CI: 1.39-3.97) P = 0.001). Numbers were too low to permit separate analysis of ED in parents and their male children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Eating disorders in parents were associated with ED in children. This study adds to our knowledge about the intergenerational transmission of ED, which will help identify high-risk groups and brings about the possibility of targeted prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bould
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The Rosie Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sovio
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University/Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koupil
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dalman
authors.affiliation: Behavioural and Brain Sciences Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Micali
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Sciences Unit, Faculty of Brain Sciences, UCL, London, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magnusson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: anorexia nervosa; bulimia nervosa; eating disorder not otherwise specified; eating disorders; intergenerational