Family histories of anxiety in overweight men and women with binge eating disorder: A preliminary investigation.
OBJECTIVE
A preliminary examination of the significance of family histories of anxiety in the expression of binge eating disorder (BED) and associated functioning.


METHODS
Participants were 166 overweight patients with BED assessed using diagnostic interviews. Participants were administered a structured psychiatric history interview about their first-degree relatives (parents, siblings, children) (N=897) to determine lifetime diagnoses of DSM-IV anxiety disorders and completed a battery of questionnaires assessing current and historical eating and weight variables and associated psychological functioning (depression).


RESULTS
BED patients with a family history of anxiety disorder were significantly more likely than BED patients without a family history of anxiety disorder to have lifetime diagnoses of anxiety disorders and mood disorders but not substance use disorders. A family history of anxiety was not significantly associated with timing or sequencing of age at onset of anxiety disorder, binge eating, dieting, or obesity, or with variability in current levels of binge eating, eating disorder psychopathology, or psychological functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
Although replication with direct interview method is needed, our preliminary findings suggest that a family history of anxiety confers greater risk for comorbid anxiety and mood disorders but is largely unrelated to the development of binge eating, dieting, or obesity and unrelated to variability in eating disorder psychopathology or psychological functioning in overweight patients with BED.
Department of Psychology, Furman University, Greenville, SC, United States. Electronic address: Kerstin.Blomquist@Furman.Edu.
Kerstin K
KK
Blomquist
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.
Carlos M
CM
Grilo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult