Dataset Information

Family history of education predicts eating disorders across multiple generations among 2 million Swedish males and females.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To investigate which facets of parent and grandparent socio-economic position (SEP) are associated with eating disorders (ED), and how this varies by ED subtype and over time.

Methods

Total-population cohort study of 1,040,165 females and 1,098,188 males born 1973-1998 in Sweden, and followed for inpatient or outpatient ED diagnoses until 2010. Proportional hazards models estimated associations with parental education, income and social class, and with grandparental education and income.

Results

15,747 females and 1051 males in our sample received an ED diagnosis, with rates increasing in both sexes over time. ED incidence in females was independently predicted by greater educational level among the father, mother and maternal grandparents, but parent social class and parental income showed little or no independent effect. The associations with education were equally strong for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and ED not-otherwise-specified, and had increased over time. Among males, an apparently similar pattern was seen with respect to anorexia nervosa, but non-anorexia ED showed no association with parental education and an inverse association with parental income.

Conclusions

Family history of education predicts ED in gender- and disorder-specific ways, and in females the effect is observed across multiple generations. Particularly given that these effects may have grown stronger in more recent cohorts, these findings highlight the need for further research to clarify the underlying mechanisms and identify promising targets for prevention. Speculatively, one such mechanism may involve greater internal and external demands for academic success in highly educated families.

SUBMITTER: Goodman A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4146600 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Family history of education predicts eating disorders across multiple generations among 2 million Swedish males and females.

Goodman Anna A Heshmati Amy A Koupil Ilona I

PloS one 20140827 8

<h4>Purpose</h4>To investigate which facets of parent and grandparent socio-economic position (SEP) are associated with eating disorders (ED), and how this varies by ED subtype and over time.<h4>Methods</h4>Total-population cohort study of 1,040,165 females and 1,098,188 males born 1973-1998 in Sweden, and followed for inpatient or outpatient ED diagnoses until 2010. Proportional hazards models estimated associations with parental education, income and social class, and with grandparental educat ...[more]

PMID: 25162402

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Project description:To investigate whether and how social class and social mobility in grandparents and parents predict alcohol-related disorders (ARDs) in males and females aged 12+ years, and whether intergenerational social prediction of ARDs varies across time periods.The study sample included four successive generations (G) of Swedish families from the Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study: G0 born 1851-1912; G1 born 1915-1929; G2 born 1940-1964 and G3 born 1965-1989. Two study populations were created, each consisting of grandparents, parents and offspring: population I 'G0-G1-G2' (offspring n = 18 430) and population II 'G1-G2-G3' (offspring n = 26 469). Registers and archives provided data on ancestors' socio-demographic factors and ARD history, together with offspring ARD development between 1964-2008. Cox regression models examined the hazard of offspring ARD development according to grandparental social class and grandparental-to-parental social trajectories, controlling for offspring birth year, grandmother's and mother's marital status and parental ARDs.Disadvantaged grandparental social class predicted increased ARD risk in offspring in population I, although the effect attenuated and became non-significant in males after adjusting for parental characteristics (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.80 (95%CI; 1.07, 3.03) in females, HR = 1.32 (95%CI; 0.93, 1.89) in males). In population II, no increase in ARD risk by grandparental social was evident. In both populations, males were at the highest ARD risk if both parents and grandparents belonged to disadvantaged social class (population I: HR = 1.82 (95%CI; 1.22-2.72); population II: HR = 1.68 (95%CI; 1.02-2.76)).Intergenerational social patterning of ARDs appears to be time-contextual and gender-specific. The role of grandparental social class in developing ARDs in grandchildren seems to decline over time, while persistent grandparental-to-parental social disadvantage remains associated with higher ARD risk in males. When targeting higher risk groups, continuity of familial social disadvantage, particularly among males, should be considered.

Dataset Information

Family history of education predicts eating disorders across multiple generations among 2 million Swedish males and females.

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Family history of education predicts eating disorders across multiple generations among 2 million Swedish males and females.

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