Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in Children at Familial High Risk

Children of parents with bipolar disorders were themselves likely to develop the illness if they had baseline anxiety, depression, or affective lability.

Familial occurrence of bipolar spectrum disorders in offspring of people with bipolar disorder (BD) is not fully understood. These investigators conducted an 8-year follow-up study involving biannual comprehensive assessments to compare risk for BD in 359 youths with a parent who had BD type I or II, and 220 community controls (mean assessments, 3.6; mean age at baseline, 12 years; 48% male).

Analyses excluded 46 participants with inadequate data. Baseline BD was identified in 33 offspring. Among the other 299 participants at high risk, 15 developed new-onset BD I or II during the 8-year follow-up; another 29 developed BD not otherwise specified (BD-NOS). Risk for conversion to bipolar spectrum disorders during follow-up was 49% among offspr…

Reviewing Author

Barbara Geller, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Barbara Geller, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in Children at Familial High Risk

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Reviewing Author