Psychosocial determinants and family background in anorexia nervosa : Results from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Study

• Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the associations between psychosocial factors and family background and incidence of anorexia nervosa (AN) in a Swedish cohort. Method: The Stockholm Birth Cohort, SBC (N = 14,294) contains information on social background and general health in males and females, born in Stockholm 1953. Hospitalizations for AN, based on diagnoses from the ICD-8 through ICD-10, were recorded from 1969 to 2002. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to measure the association between psychosocial characteristics and family background and the risk of AN. Results: Higher maternal education was associated with a higher risk for hospitalization for AN. An increased risk for AN was also found among females who stated that they “often compare their future prospects with others.” Discussion: Although the study is based on a low number of cases, it confirms earlier findings of higher maternal education among individuals with eating disorders in similar cohorts.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

anorexia nervosa

social background

family characteristics

psychosocial factors

Psychology

Psykologi

Psychology

psykologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)