Association of Higher Parental and Grandparental Education and Higher School Grades With Risk of Hospitalization for Eating Disorders in Females : The Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study

• Eating disorders are a leading cause of disease burden amongyoung women. This study investigated associations of socialcharacteristics of parents and grandparents, sibling position,and school performance with incidence of eating disorders. Theauthors studied Swedish females born in 1952–1989 (n =13,376), third-generation descendants of a cohort born in Uppsalain 1915–1929. Data on grandparental and parental socialcharacteristics, sibling position, school grades, hospitalizations,emigrations, and deaths were obtained by register linkages.Associations with incidence of hospitalization for eating disorderswere studied with multivariable Cox regression, adjusted forage and study period. Overall incidence of hospitalization foreating disorders was 32.0/100,000 person-years. Women with morehighly educated parents and maternal grandparents were at higherrisk (hazard ratio for maternal grandmother with higher educationrelative to elementary education = 6.5, 95% confidence interval:2.2, 19.3, adjusted for parental education). Independent offamily social characteristics, women with the highest schoolgrades had a higher risk of eating disorders (hazard ratio =7.7, 95% confidence interval: 2.5, 24.1 for high compared withlow grades in Swedish, adjusted for parental education). Thus,higher parental and grandparental education and higher schoolgrades may increase risk of hospitalization for eating disordersin female offspring, possibly because of high internal and externaldemands.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

anorexia nervosa

eating disorders

education

family

parents

siblings

social class

Psychology

Psykologi

Psychology

psykologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)