The current study examined whether impulsivity and dietary restraint are significant moderators in the relationship between 5-HT genes and binge eating. We hypothesized that the failure to identify replicable candidate genes for BN (Culbert et al., 2008; Klump & Culbert, 2007) may be partially due to the lack of consideration of quantitative traits (i.e., impulsivity) and exposure factors (i.e., dietary restraint) in molecular genetics studies. Findings suggest that, although the 5-HT2a receptor and 5-HTT genes may increase risk for impulsivity, neither of the 5-HT genes examined are significantly associated with binge eating. Furthermore, these genes do not appear to interact with impulsivity or dietary restraint to increase risk for binge eating. There are a number of possible explanations for our results.
