The prevalence of psychopathology in offspring of bipolar women from a Brazilian tertiary center.
OBJECTIVE
No previous study has assessed the occurrence of psychopathology in offspring of bipolar women from South America. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of psychopathology in offspring of bipolar mothers from Brazil compared with two control groups.


METHODS
Children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years of bipolar disorders mothers (n = 43), mothers with other mild to moderate mental disorders (n = 53) and mothers without any psychiatric disorder (n = 53) were evaluated using the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia present and lifetime version, the Child Behavior Checklist and the Youth Self-Report. Raters were blind to the mothers' diagnoses, who were interviewed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview.


RESULTS
Bipolar offspring had twice the chance of having one or more lifetime Axis I diagnoses [prevalence ratio = 2.11 (95% CI: 1.30-3.42) and p = 0.003] and 2.8 higher risk of having a lifetime anxiety disorder [prevalence ratio = 2.83 (95% CI: 1.39-5.78) e p = 0.004] than the offspring of mothers with no mental disorder. In addition, significantly higher scores on Child Behavior Checklist thought problems and Youth Self-Report social problems, as well as anxiety/depression and internalizing problems were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirm previous findings suggesting higher psychiatric problems in offspring of bipolar mothers and extend them to the Brazilian society.
Medical School, Clinical Hospital, Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. sapetresco@yahoo.com
Sandra
S
Petresco
Elisa Kijner
EK
Gutt
Renata
R
Krelling
Francisco
F
Lotufo Neto
Luis Augusto Paim
LA
Rohde
Ricardo Alberto
RA
Moreno
D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales