Study Identifies Some Predictors of Bipolar Disorder in At-Risk Youth

Among offspring of individuals with bipolar disorder, 25% were diagnosed with the disorder, according to astudy published in AJP in Advance. The study found that childhood sleep and anxiety disorders may be important predictors of the illness.Participants with childhood anxiety disorders or sleep disorders were nearly twice as likely to develop mood disorder, according to Anne Duffy, M.D., a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Queen ’s University in Canada, and colleagues. Children with depressive or manic symptoms were 2.7 times more likely and 2.3 times more likely, respectively, to develop mood disorder.The study findings “underscore the importance of taking into account both the family history and the developmental trajectory of emerging psychopathology to improve earlier diagnostic precision in young people manifesting clinically significant symptoms and syndromes,” Duffy and colleagues wrote.The prospective study included 279 “high-risk” participants (aged 5 to 25 years) who had one parent diagnosed with bipolar disorder I or II, and 87 comparison participants with similar socioeconomic backgrounds from Ottawa schools. Participants were followed for an average of about seven years. All participants completed research assessments administered by a psychiatrist at baseline and about every year thereafter, including a semistructured interview following the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-L) o...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ajp in advance Anne Duffy anxiety bipolar disorder children manic symptoms predictors sleep disorders Source Type: research