Gender in the genetic epidemiology of eating disorders

Few studies have systematically examined gender differences in prevalence, correlates, comorbid psychopathology, and symptomatology, and to date no studies have examined gender differences in genetic epidemiology of eating disorders. The present study examines gender differences in prevalence, personality, disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, comorbidity, and genetic epidemiology in a twin sample consisting of 1510 females and 1111 males.; Substantial gender differences in prevalence were found for disordered eating attitudes, behaviors, diagnoses, and symptoms, with higher prevalences among females. However, gender differences in prevalences were not as skewed as previously reported. No gender differences were found for lifetime prevalence of binge eating disorder, or for certain compensatory behaviors. Males were found to have increased body image dissatisfaction in childhood with a preference for increased body mass. Females exhibited greater body image dissatisfaction in adulthood, with a preference for decreased body mass. Novelty seeking was associated with disordered eating behaviors in females but not in males for binge eating and purging behaviors. With respect to genetic epidemiology, males exhibited a greater role of shared environment than females for all but weight and shape salience. Quantitative gender differences were observed only for drive for thinness with females exhibiting greater additive genetic and males greater shared environmental variance. Suggestions of qualitative genetic differences were found for compensatory behaviors, nonpurging behaviors, and drive for thinness. Evidence of genetic dominance was observed for dieting behaviors, compensatory behaviors, and body dissatisfaction in females, and for nonpurging and broad compensatory behaviors in males.; The relative absence of dietary restriction in young males may convey a protective factor against the development of eating disorders in males. Presence of binge eating behaviors in males appears to convey a vulnerability to binge eating disorders equal in prevalence to that of females. Evidence of a nosological bias in the DSM-IV may underestimate the prevalence of disordered eating in males. Compensatory behaviors as presently conceptualized do not capture differences in the structure of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in males. Future research might examine the role of genes involved in novelty seeking (DND4-521 C/T SNP) in eating disordered and noneating disordered samples.