title: Psychopathology in the young offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: a controlled pilot study.
abstract: Studies have suggested that the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder are at risk for a spectrum of psychopathology, but few have focused on children in the youngest age ranges or examined the impact of comorbid parental disorders. We utilized a pre-existing sample of young (mean age: 6.8 years) offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (n=34), of parents with panic or major depression (n=179), and of parents with neither mood or anxiety disorder (n=95). Children were assessed blindly to parental diagnoses using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Epidemiologic version (K-SADS-E). Offspring of bipolar parents had significantly higher rates of disruptive behavior and anxiety disorders than offspring from both of the comparison groups, accounted for by elevated rates of ADHD and overanxious disorder. These comparisons were significant even when lifetime histories of the corresponding categories of comorbid disorders in the parents (disruptive behavior disorders and anxiety disorders) were covaried. In addition, offspring of bipolar parents had increased rates of bipolar I disorder, compared with psychiatric controls. Results support the hypotheses of elevated behavior, anxiety, and mood disorders among offspring at risk for bipolar disorder, and suggest that this psychopathology is already evident in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Alewife Brook Parkway, Suite 2100, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. dhirshfield@partners.org
authors.forename: Dina R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hirshfeld-Becker
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biederman
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henin
authors.forename: Stephen V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone
authors.forename: Stephanie T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Dowd
authors.forename: Lillian A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: De Petrillo
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.forename: Jerrold F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001722:Birth Order; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index