Associations Between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptom Dimensions and Disordered Eating Symptoms in Adolescence: A Population-Based Twin Study

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Zeynep Yilmaz
  • Mary J. Quattlebaum
  • Pratiksha S. Pawar
  • Laura M. Thornton
  • Cynthia M. Bulik
  • Kristin N. Javaras
  • Shuyang Yao
  • Paul Lichtenstein
  • Larsson, Henrik Bo Wiberg
  • Jessica H. Baker

Although bivariate associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and eating disorders in adolescent girls and boys have been previously identified, the mechanistic link underlying the symptom-level associations remains unclear. We evaluated shared genetic and environmental influences on ADHD symptoms and disordered eating in 819 female and 756 male twins from the Swedish TCHAD cohort using bivariate models. Common additive genetic and unique environmental effects accounted for majority of ADHD and disordered eating associations in a differential manner. For girls, the strongest genetic correlation was observed for cognitive/inattention problems-bulimia (0.54), with genetic factors accounting for 67% of the phenotypic correlation. For boys, the strongest genetic correlations were observed for conduct problems-bulimia and hyperactivity-bulimia (~ 0.54), accounting for 83% and 95% of the phenotypic correlation, respectively. As per our findings, the risk of comorbidity and shared genetics highlights the need for preventative measures and specialized treatment for ADHD and disordered eating in both sexes.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBehavior Genetics
Volume53
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)143-153
Number of pages11
ISSN0001-8244
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
TCHAD study was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (2004-0383) and the Swedish Research Council (2004-1415). ZY acknowledges support from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; T32MH076694, K01MH109782, R01MH120170) and Brain and Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Award (Grant # 28799). MJQ was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM081740). CMB acknowledges grant support from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, award: 538-2013-8864) and the Lundbeck Foundation (Grant # R276-2018-4581). KNJ was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK120517). JHB received grant funding from the NIMH (K01MH106675).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

    Research areas

  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Disordered eating, Genetics, Population cohort, Sex differences, Symptom-level associations, Twin study

ID: 371506918