Controlled Family Study of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa: Evidence of Shared Liability and Transmission of Partial Syndromes

Abstract

Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are familial. Their cross-transmission in families suggests a common, or shared, familial diathesis. The additional observation that familial aggregation and cross-transmission extend to milder phenotypes suggests the validity of their inclusion in a continuum of familial liability.