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Rapid, continuous cycling and psychiatric co‐morbidity in pediatric bipolar I disorder
Author(s) -
Findling Robert L,
Gracious Barbara L,
McNamara Nora K,
Youngstrom Eric A,
Demeter Christine A,
Branicky Lisa A,
Calabrese Joseph R
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
bipolar disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.285
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1399-5618
pISSN - 1398-5647
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-5618.2001.30405.x
Subject(s) - mania , bipolar disorder , psychiatry , psychopathology , mood , hypomania , psychology , mood disorders , presentation (obstetrics) , clinical psychology , pediatrics , medicine , anxiety , radiology
Objectives:The primary purpose of this study was to describe the clinical presentation of bipolar I disorder (BP‐I) as it occurs in children and adolescents and to assess whether the manifestations of BP‐I were similar in both age groups.
Method: Ninety youths between the ages of 5 and 17 years meeting full diagnostic symptom criteria for BP‐I were included in this study. The diagnosis of BP‐I was established for these youths based on the results of a semi‐structured diagnostic interview and a clinical assessment by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. The course of a subset of these youngsters’ illnesses was assessed using the Life Charting Method (LCM). Data regarding the clinical presentation, longitudinal history, psychiatric co‐morbidities and parental psychopathology were also obtained.
Results: The clinical presentation of BP‐I was similar in children and adolescents. Youths meeting diagnostic criteria for BP‐I developed an average of approximately 5.8 of the 7 symptoms of mania during periods of elevated or irritable mood. BP‐I was found to be a cyclic disorder characterized by high rates of rapid cycling (50%) with almost no inter‐episode recovery. Almost 75% of these subjects also met diagnostic symptom criteria for a disruptive behavior disorder. High rates of mood disorders were found in fathers.
Conclusions: These data suggest that the presentation of juvenile BP‐I is a cyclic and valid clinical condition with manifestations on a continuum with the later‐onset forms of this illness.