ABSTRACT

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and eating disorders (ED) frequently co-occur, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. EDs are characterized by features of maladaptive eating behaviors including disinhibited eating and cognitive dietary restraint. Identifying the genetic overlap between PTSD symptoms and maladaptive eating behaviors may elucidate biological mechanisms and potential treatment targets. A community sample of 400 same-sex twins (102 monozygotic and 98 dizygotic pairs) completed the PTSD Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C) for PTSD symptoms and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-Reduced (TFEQ-R18) for eating behaviors (uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, and cognitive dietary restraint). We used biometric modeling to examine the genetic and environmental relationships between PCL-C and TFEQ-R18 total and subscales scores. Heritability was estimated at 48% for PTSD symptoms and 45% for eating behavior overall. Bivariate models revealed a significant genetic correlation between PTSD symptoms and eating behavior overall (r_g =.34; CI:.07,.58) and Uncontrolled Eating (r_g  =.53; CI:.24,.84), and a significant environmental correlation between PTSD symptoms and Emotional Eating (r_e  =.30; CI:.12,.45). These findings suggest the influence of common etiology. Future research and clinical efforts should focus on developing integrated treatments.

摘要

创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和进食障碍（ED）经常并发，但这种关联的机制尚不清楚。ED的特征是具有不良的饮食行为特征，包括禁忌饮食和认知饮食限制。鉴定PTSD症状和不良适应饮食行为之间的遗传重叠可以阐明生物学机制和潜在的治疗目标。一个社区样本包括400对同性双胞胎（102对同卵双胞胎和98对同卵双胞胎），完成了PTSD症状的PTSD清单-平民（PCL-C）以及减少饮食行为的三因素饮食问卷（TFEQ-R18）（不受控制）饮食，情感饮食和认知饮食限制）。我们使用生物特征识别模型来检查PCL-C和TFEQ-R18总分和分量表得分之间的遗传和环境关系。总体上，PTSD症状的遗传力估计为48％，进食行为的遗传力为45％。双变量模型显示PTSD症状与整体进食行为之间存在显着的遗传相关性（r _g  = .34；CI：.07，.58）和饮食失控（r _g  = .53； CI：.24，.84），以及PTSD症状与情绪化饮食之间存在显着的环境相关性（r _e  = .30； CI：.12， .45）。这些发现提示了常见病因的影响。未来的研究和临床工作应着重于开发综合治疗。