Doctoral Dissertation Research: Genetics, Environment, and the Influence of Eating Disorders on Marriage and Fertility Trajectories

在生命历程理论中，转折点被定义为导致个人生活或健康轨迹发生重大变化的特定事件、经历或一系列行为。一组尚未被纳入生命历程理论的行为是饮食失调，尽管事实上在美国大约有2400万人患有这种疾病。众所周知，饮食失调是遗传和表观遗传因素的结果，并导致不利的身心健康结果，并持续到成年期。虽然初步证据表明，饮食失调会导致青少年和成年期的社会适应能力低下，包括犯罪和更高的失业率，但很少有研究探讨饮食失调对社会福利指标的影响。该项目研究饮食失调是否作为一个转折点，破坏、延迟或抑制与成人发展相关的其他结果。具体来说，本研究使用兄弟姐妹比较设计探讨了饮食失调与家庭形成（如婚姻和生育行为）相关结果之间的关系。生物学上的兄弟姐妹具有相似的遗传特征，通常在相似的早期生活环境中发育。通过考虑一系列可能与饮食失调的病因和后果相关的早期生活和表观遗传因素，兄弟姐妹比较设计允许将饮食失调作为一种特殊的不同经历进行更大的隔离。该项目利用两个数据来源来检查饮食失调患者的婚姻和生育经历：国家青少年健康纵向研究（Add Health）和犹他州人口数据库（UPDB）。一旦完成，该项目将成为首批控制影响饮食失调风险和成年期家庭形成相关结果的表观遗传因素的研究之一。

In life course theory, a turning point is defined as a particular event, experience, or set of behaviors that result in a significant change to the life or health trajectory of an individual. One set of behaviors that has not yet been incorporated into life course theory is eating disorders, despite the fact that approximately 24 million people in the US suffer from them. Eating disorders are known to be the result of genetic and epigenetic factors, and result in unfavorable physical and mental health outcomes that persist well into adulthood. Although preliminary evidence suggests that eating disorders result in poor social adjustment in adolescence and adulthood, including delinquency and higher unemployment, little research has explored the influence of eating disorders on markers of social wellbeing. This project examines whether eating disorders act as a turning point that disrupts, delays or inhibits other outcomes associated with adult development. Specifically this study explores the relationship between eating disorders and outcomes related to family formation such as marriage and fertility behaviors using a sibling-comparison design. Biological siblings share similar genetic traits and generally develop in similar early-life environments. A sibling-comparison design allows for greater isolation of eating disorders as a particular divergent experience by accounting for a wide-array of early-life and epigenetic factors that may be associated with both the etiology and consequences of eating disorders. The project utilizes two data sources to examine the marriage and fertility experiences of individuals with eating disorders: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and the Utah Population Data Base (UPDB). Once completed, this project will be among the first studies to control for the epigenetic factors influencing both the risk for eating disorders and the outcomes associated with family formation during adulthood.