title: Early course of bipolar disorder in high-risk offspring: prospective study.
abstract: We studied the course of major mood disorders in the offspring of parents with well-characterised bipolar disorder prospectively for up to 15 years. All consenting offspring were assessed annually or anytime symptomatic. The participants began to develop major mood episodes in adolescence and not before. The index major mood episode was almost always depressive, as were the first few recurrences. Onsets and recurrences continued throughout the observation period into adulthood. We did not find evidence of pre-pubertal mania. In summary, adolescence marks the beginning of the high-risk period for major mood episodes related to bipolar disorder.
authors.affiliation: MD, Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University IWK Health Centre, 5850/5980 University Avenue, P.O. Box 9700, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3K 6R8. anne.duffy@dal.ca.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alda
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hajek
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grof
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012008:Recurrence; D055815:Young Adult