Citation

Micali N, Solmi F, Horton NJ, Crosby RD, Eddy KT, Calzo JP, Sonneville KR, Swanson SA, Field AE. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2015; 54(8): 652-659.

Affiliation

Division of Adolescent Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1016/j.jaac.2015.05.009

PMID

26210334

PMCID

PMC4515576

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), and other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED), including purging disorder (PD), subthreshold BN, and BED at ages 14 and 16 years, are prospectively associated with later depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and substance use, and self-harm.

METHOD: Eating disorders were ascertained at ages 14 and 16 years in 6,140 youth at age 14 (58% of those eligible) and 5,069 at age 16 (52% of those eligible) as part of the prospective Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Outcomes (depression, anxiety disorders, binge drinking, drug use, deliberate self-harm, weight status) were measured using interviews and questionnaires about 2 years after predictors. Generalized estimating equation models adjusting for gender, socio-demographic variables, and prior outcome were used to examine prospective associations between eating disorders and each outcome.

RESULTS: All eating disorders were predictive of later anxiety disorders. AN, BN, BED, PD, and OSFED were prospectively associated with depression (respectively AN: odds ratio [OR] = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.00-1.94; BN: OR = 3.39, 95% CI = 1.25-9.20; BED: OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.06-3.75; and PD: OR = 2.56, 95% CI = 1.38-4.74). All eating disorders but AN predicted drug use and deliberate self-harm (BN: OR = 5.72, 95% CI = 2.22-14.72; PD: OR = 4.88, 95% CI = 2.78-8.57; subthreshold BN: OR = 3.97, 95% CI = 1.44-10.98; and subthreshold BED: OR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.43-3.75). Although BED and BN predicted obesity (respectively OR = 3.58, 95% CI = 1.06-12.14 and OR = 6.42, 95% CI = 1.69-24.30), AN was prospectively associated with underweight.

CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent eating disorders, including subthreshold presentations, predict negative outcomes, including mental health disorders, substance use, deliberate self-harm, and weight outcomes. This study highlights the high public health and clinical burden of eating disorders among adolescents.

Language: en