A controlled family study of anorexia nervosa: Evidence of familial aggregation and lack of shared transmission with affective disorders

Lifetime prevalence rates of eating disorders and affective disorder were determined in biological relatives of probands with anorexia nervosa, affective disorder, and other types of psychiatric disturbance. Anorexia nervosa was found to cluster in families with intergenerational transmission, and was absent among relatives of controls. Significantly higher rates of affective disorder were found among relatives of anorexics with coexisting depression, suggesting that these probands transmit two disorders to relatives. The results indicate there is familial resemblance for anorexia nervosa, and that the liability is different from that operating in the transmission of affective disorders.