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A controlled family history study of bulimia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

James I. Hudson ,
Harrison G. Pope Jr ,
Jeffrey M. Jonas ,
Deborah Yurgelun-Todd  and
Frances R. Frankenburg
James I. Hudson*
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Laboratory, Laboratories for Psychiatric Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Eating Disorders Program, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, NJ, USA
Harrison G. Pope Jr
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Laboratory, Laboratories for Psychiatric Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Eating Disorders Program, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, NJ, USA
Jeffrey M. Jonas
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Laboratory, Laboratories for Psychiatric Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Eating Disorders Program, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, NJ, USA
Deborah Yurgelun-Todd
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Laboratory, Laboratories for Psychiatric Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Eating Disorders Program, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, NJ, USA
Frances R. Frankenburg
Affiliation:
Epidemiology Laboratory, Laboratories for Psychiatric Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Eating Disorders Program, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, NJ, USA
*
1Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr J. I. Hudson, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill St., Belmont, MA 02178, USA.
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Synopsis

Using the family history method, we assessed the morbid risk for psychiatric disorders the first-degree relatives of 69 probands with bulimia, 24 probands with major depression, and nonpsychiatric control probands. The morbid risk for major affective disorder among the first-degree relatives of the bulimic probands was 32%, significantly greater than that found in the nonpsychiatric control probands. The rate of familial major affective disorder was significantly greater in bulimic probands who had a history of major affective disorder themselves than in bulimic probands without such a history - but the latter group, in turn, displayed significantly higher rates than the nonpsychiatric control probands. Eating disorders were slightly, but not significantly, more prevalent in the families of bulimic probands than nonpsychiatric control probands. We present two alternative hypotheses which might explain these findings.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , November 1987 , pp. 883 - 890
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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