title: Brief report: a family risk study exploring bipolar spectrum problems and cognitive biases in adolescent children of bipolar parents.
abstract: Children of parents with bipolar disorder are at increased risk of bipolar spectrum diagnoses. This cross-sectional study explores cognitive factors in the prediction of vulnerability to bipolar disorder. Adolescents at high-risk (with a parent with bipolar disorder; n = 23) and age and gender matched adolescents (n = 24) were recruited. Parent and adolescent diagnoses were evaluated (SCID and SADS-L). Adolescents completed self-report measures assessing attributional style (ASQ), appraisal of hypomania-relevant experiences (HIQ), and hypomanic personality/temperament (HPS). Despite limitations in the power of the study, significantly more adolescents at high-risk for disorder received bipolar spectrum diagnoses. Groups did not differ in attributional style, hypomanic temperament or appraisals of hypomania-relevant experiences. A trend in ASQ results and general implications are discussed. The current study suggests that familial risk of bipolar disorder is not inevitably associated with cognitive biases in adolescence.
authors.affiliation: University of Manchester, Coupland 1, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, UK. jonathanespie@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Espie
authors.forename: Steven H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Yvonne H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Vance
authors.forename: Sara J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom