Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:36:13.217Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of puberty on genetic risk for disordered eating: evidence for a sex difference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2011

K. L. Klump ,
K. M. Culbert ,
J. D. Slane ,
S. A. Burt ,
C. L. Sisk  and
J. T. Nigg
K. L. Klump*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
K. M. Culbert
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
J. D. Slane
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
S. A. Burt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
C. L. Sisk
Affiliation:
Psychology and Neuroscience, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
J. T. Nigg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: K. L. Klump, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 107B Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1116, USA. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Differences in genetic influences on disordered eating are present across puberty in girls. Heritability is 0% before puberty, but over 50% during and after puberty. Emerging data suggest that these developmental differences may be due to pubertal increases in ovarian hormones. However, a critical piece of evidence is lacking, namely, knowledge of genetic influences on disordered eating across puberty in boys. Boys do not experience increases in ovarian hormones during puberty. Thus, if pubertal increases in genetic effects are present in boys, then factors in addition to ovarian hormones may drive increases in heritability in girls. The current study was the first to examine this possibility in a sample of 1006 male and female twins from the Michigan State University Twin Registry.

Method

Disordered eating was assessed with the Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey. Pubertal development was assessed with the Pubertal Development Scale.

Results

No significant differences in genetic influences on disordered eating were observed in males across any developmental stage. Heritability was 51% in boys during pre-puberty, puberty and young adulthood. By contrast, in girls, genetic factors accounted for 0% of the variance in pre-puberty, but 51% of the variance during puberty and beyond. Sex differences in genetic effects were only significant during pre-puberty, as the best-fitting models constrained heritability to be equal across all males, pubertal females and young adult females.

Conclusions

The results highlight sex-specific effects of puberty on genetic risk for disordered eating and provide indirect evidence of a role for ovarian hormones and/or other female-specific factors.

Keywords

Eating disordersgeneticsmalespubertysex differencestwins
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , March 2012 , pp. 627 - 637
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akaike, H (1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika 52, 317–332.Google Scholar
Baker, JH, Maes, HM, Lissner, L, Aggen, SH, Lichtenstein, P, Kendler, K (2009). Genetic risk factors for disordered eating in adolescent males and females. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 118, 576–586.Google Scholar
Beck, AT, Steer, RA, Brown, GK (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Psychological Corporation: San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
Boggiano, MM, Artiga, AI, Pritchett, CE, Chandler-Laney, PC, Smith, ML, Eldridge, AJ (2007). High intake of palatable food predicts binge-eating independent of susceptibility to obesity: an animal model of lean vs. obese binge-eating and obesity with and without binge-eating. International Journal of Obesity (London) 31, 1357–1367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breedlove, SM (1994). Sexual differentiation of the human nervous system. Annual Review of Psychology 45, 389–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bulik, CM, Sullivan, PF, Wade, TD, Kendler, KS (2000). Twin studies of eating disorders: a review. International Journal of Eating Disorders 17, 251–261.3.0.CO;2-V>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cafri, G, Yamamiya, Y, Brannick, M, Thompson, JK (2005). The influence of sociocultural factors on body image: a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 12, 421–433.Google Scholar
Coleman, L, Coleman, J (2002). The measurement of puberty: a review. Journal of Adolescence 25, 535–550.Google Scholar
Collaer, M, Hines, M (1995). Human behavioral sex differences: a role of gonadal hormones during early development? Psychological Bulletin 118, 55–107.Google Scholar
Culbert, KM, Breedlove, SM, Burt, SA, Klump, KL (2008). Prenatal hormone exposure and risk for eating disorders: a comparison of opposite- and same-sex twins. Archives of General Psychiatry 65, 329–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Culbert, KM, Burt, SA, McGue, M, Iacono, WG, Klump, KL (2009). Puberty and the genetic diathesis of disordered eating. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 118, 201–218.Google Scholar
Dorn, LD, Dahl, RE, Woodward, HR, Biro, F (2006). Defining the boundaries of early adolescence: a user's guide to assessing pubertal status and pubertal timing in research with adolescents. Applied Developmental Science 10, 30–56.Google Scholar
Fairburn, CG, Beglin, SJ (1994). Assessment of eating disorders: interview or self-report questionnaire? International Journal of Eating Disorders 16, 363–370.3.0.CO;2-#>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gagnidze, K, Pfaff, DW, Mong, JA (2010). Gene expression in neuroendocrine cells during the critical period for sexual differentiation of the brain. Progress in Brain Research 186, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herman-Giddens, ME, Wang, L, Koch, G (2001). Secondary sexual characteristics in boys: estimates from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, 1988–1994. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 155, 1022–1028.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keski-Rahkonen, A, Bulik, CM, Neale, M, Rose, RJ, Rissanen, A, Kaprio, J (2005). Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in young adult twins. International Journal of Eating Disorders 37, 188–199.Google Scholar
Klump, KL, Burt, SA (2006). The Michigan State University Twin Registry (MSUTR): genetic, environmental and neurobiological influences on behavior across development. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 971–977.Google Scholar
Klump, KL, Culbert, KM (2007). Molecular genetic studies of eating disorders: current status and future directions. Current Directions in Psychological Science 16, 37–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klump, KL, Gobrogge, KL, Perkins, P, Thorne, D, Sisk, CL, Breedlove, SM (2006). Preliminary evidence that gonadal hormones organize and activate disordered eating. Psychological Medicine 36, 539–546.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klump, KL, Keel, PK, Sisk, CL, Burt, SA (2010). Preliminary evidence that estradiol moderates genetic effects on disordered eating attitudes and behaviors during puberty. Psychological Medicine 40, 1745–1754.Google Scholar
Klump, KL, McGue, M, Iacono, WG (2000). Age differences in genetic and environmental influences on eating attitudes and behaviors in female adolescent twins. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 109, 239–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klump, KL, McGue, M, Iacono, WG (2003). Differential heritability of eating attitudes and behaviors in prepubertal versus pubertal twins. International Journal of Eating Disorders 33, 287–292.Google Scholar
Klump, KL, Perkins, P, Burt, SA, McGue, M, Iacono, WG (2007). Puberty moderates genetic influences on disordered eating. Psychological Medicine 37, 627–634.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M (1985). The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin 21, 995–998.Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, PA (editor) (2001). Physiology of Puberty. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Lykken, DT, Bouchard, TJ, McGue, M, Tellegen, A (1990). The Minnesota Twin Family Registry: some initial findings. Acta Gemellogicae et Medicae 39, 35–70.Google Scholar
Martin, MG, Eaves, LJ, Kearsey, MJ, Davies, P (1978). The power of the classical twin study. Heredity 40, 97–116.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Boker, SM, Xie, G, Maes, HH (1999). Mx: Statistical Modeling, 5th edn.Department of Psychiatry: Richmond, VA.Google Scholar
Ostlund, H, Keller, E, Hurd, YL (2003). Estrogen receptor gene expression in relation to neuropsychiatric disorders. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1007, 54–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parent, AS, Teilmann, G, Juul, A, Skakkebaek, NE, Toppari, J, Bourguignon, JP (2003). The timing of normal puberty and the age limits of sexual precocity: variations around the world, secular trends, and changes after migration. Endocrine Reviews 24, 668–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peeters, H, Van Gestel, S, Vlietinck, R, Derom, C, Derom, R (1998). Validation of telephone zygosity questionnaire in twins of known zygosity. Behavior Genetics 28, 159–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, AC, Crockett, L, Richards, M, Boxer, A (1988). A self-report measure of pubertal status: reliability, validity, and initial norms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 17, 117–133.Google Scholar
Purcell, S (2002). Variance components models for gene–environment interaction in twin analysis. Twin Research 5, 554–571.Google Scholar
Reichborn-Kjennerud, T, Bulik, CM, Kendler, K, Roysamb, E, Maes, HHM, Tambs, K (2003). Gender differences in binge-eating: a population-based twin study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 108, 196–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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. International Journal of Eating Disorders 36, 307–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, BC, Vandenbergh, JG (2002). Intrauterine position effects. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 26, 665–678.Google Scholar
Silberg, JL, Bulik, CM (2005). The developmental association between eating disorder symptoms and symptoms of depression and anxiety in juvenile twin girls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46, 1317–1326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slane, JD, Burt, SA, Klump, KL (2010). Genetic and environmental influences on disordered eating and depressive symptoms. International Journal of Eating Disorders. Published online 9 November 2010. doi:10.1002/eat.20867.Google ScholarPubMed
Slof-Op't, MC, Bartels, M, van Furth, EF, van Beijsterveldt, CEM, Meulenbelt, I, Slagboom, PE, Boomsma, DI (2008). Genetic influences on disordered eating behavior are largely independent of body mass index. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 117, 348–356.Google Scholar
Smith, AR, Hawkeswood, SE, Joiner, TE (2010). The measure of a man: associations between digit ratio and disordered eating in males. International Journal of Eating Disorders 43, 543–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suisman, JL, Klump, KL (editors) (2011). Genetic and Neuroscientific Perspectives on Body Image. Guildford Press: New York.Google Scholar
Tholin, TS, Rasmussen, F, Tynelius, P, Karlsson, J (2005). Genetic and environmental influences on eating behavior: The Swedish Young Adult Male Twins Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81, 564–569.Google Scholar
Thompson, JK, Stice, E (2001). Mounting evidence for a new risk factor for body-image disturbance and eating pathology. Current Directions in Psychological Science 10, 181–183.Google Scholar
von Ranson, KM, Klump, KL, Iacono, WG, McGue, M (2005). Development and validation of Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey: a brief measure of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Eating Behaviors 6, 373–392.Google Scholar
Wade, GN (1972). Gonadal hormones and behavioral regulation of body weight. Physiology and Behavior 8, 523–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, JK (2010). Anorexia nervosa and estrogen: current state of the hypothesis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 34, 1195–1200.Google Scholar