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The Paediatric Bipolar Hypothesis: The View from Australia and New Zealand
Author(s) -
Parry Peter,
Furber Gareth,
Allison Stephen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child and adolescent mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1475-3588
pISSN - 1475-357X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2008.00505.x
Subject(s) - bipolar disorder , pediatrics , medicine , psychiatry , cognition
Background: The paediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) hypothesis arose in the USA and proposes childhood onset and high rates of prevalence. Method: Child and adolescent psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand were surveyed about the PBD hypothesis. Results: Sixty percent responded ( N = 199) and most (53%) reported never having diagnosed pre‐pubertal PBD and a further 29% estimated seeing ‘1 or 2’ cases. Most (83%) rated pre‐pubertal PBD as ‘very rare’, ‘rare’ or ‘not diagnosable’. Opinion varied as to whether PBD was over‐diagnosed (25%), appropriately diagnosed (42%), or under‐diagnosed (28%) in Australia and New Zealand, 5% were unsure. In contrast there was a consensus of views that PBD was over‐diagnosed in the USA (90%), whilst less felt it appropriately diagnosed (3%), or under‐diagnosed (1%) and 6% were unsure. Conclusions: The majority view was consistent with classical descriptions of bipolar disorder.