Prevalence and correlates of childhood-onset bipolar disorder among adolescents.

AIM: Early-onset bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with a more severe illness as well as a number of clinical factors among adults. Early-onset can be categorized as childhood- (age < 13) or adolescent- (age ≥ 13) onset, with the two displaying different clinical profiles. We set out to examine differences in clinical, and familial characteristics among adolescents with childhood- versus adolescent-onset BD. METHODS: The study included 195 adolescents with BD, ages 14-18 years. Age of onset was determined retrospectively by self-report. Participants completed the semi-structured K-SADS-PL diagnostic interviews along with self-reported dimensional scales. Analyses examined between-group differences for clinical and familial variables. Variables associated with age of onset at p < 0.1 in univariate analyses were evaluated in a logistic regression model. RESULTS: Approximately one-fifth of participants had childhood-onset BD (n = 35; 17.9%). A number of clinical and familial factors were significantly associated with childhood-onset BD. However, there were no significant differences in depressive and manic symptom severity. In multivariate analyses, the variables most strongly associated with childhood-onset were police contact, and family history of suicidal ideation. Smoking and psychiatric hospitalization were associated with adolescent-onset. CONCLUSIONS: In this large clinical sample of adolescents with BD, one-fifth reported childhood-onset BD. Correlates of childhood-onset generally aligned with those observed in the literature. Future research is warranted to better understand the genetic and environmental implications of high familial loading of psychopathology associated with childhood-onset, and to integrate age-related treatment and prevention strategies.

The dopamine receptor D4 gene and familial loading interact with perceived parenting in predicting externalizing behavior problems in early adolescence: the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS).

Although externalizing behavior problems show in general a high stability over time, the course of externalizing behavior problems may vary from individual to individual. Our main goal was to investigate the predictive role of parenting on externalizing behavior problems. In addition, we investigated the potential moderating role of gender and genetic risk (operationalized as familial loading of externalizing behavior problems (FLE), and presence or absence of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) 7-repeat and 4-repeat allele, respectively). Perceived parenting (rejection, emotional warmth, and overprotection) and FLE were assessed in a population-based sample of 1768 10- to 12-year-old adolescents. Externalizing behavior problems were assessed at the same age and 212 years later by parent report (CBCL) and self-report (YSR). DNA was extracted from blood samples. Parental emotional warmth predicted lower, and parental overprotection and rejection predicted higher levels of externalizing behavior problems. Whereas none of the parenting factors interacted with gender and the DRD4 7-repeat allele, we did find interaction effects with FLE and the DRD4 4-repeat allele. That is, the predictive effect of parental rejection was only observed in adolescents from low FLE families and the predictive effect of parental overprotection was stronger in adolescents not carrying the DRD4 4-repeat allele.

Clinical and familial profile of bipolar disorder with and without obsessive-compulsive disorder: an Indian study / Perfil clínico e familiar do transtorno bipolar com e sem transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo: estudo indiano

Abstract Introduction Comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is common in bipolar disorder (BD). Clinical characteristics, functionality and familial pattern of this comorbidity are largely understudied. Objective To assess clinical profile, familial loading of psychiatric disorders and level of functioning in remitted BD patients who have comorbid OCD and to compare results with those of remitted BD patients without OCD. Methods Remitted BD-I subjects were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and Family Interview for Genetic Studies (FIGS). BD patients with and without OCD were compared. Group differences were analyzed using the chi-square test and the independent samples t test. Values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Of the 90 remitted BD-I patients, 35.5% (n=32) had obsessive-compulsive symptoms/OCD. The BD-OCD group showed significantly lower GAF scores, higher rates of suicidal attempts, hospitalizations, manic and depressive episodes compared to the group with BD only (p<0.05). In addition, first and second-degree relatives had higher rates of BD-OCD and OCD, but not of BD. Conclusions BD-OCD is characterized by more severe BD, more dysfunction and higher familial loading of BD-OCD and OCD. Larger studies involving relatives of probands will help to confirm our findings and to delineate nosological status of BD-OCD comorbidity.

Resumo Introdução Transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo (TOC) comórbido é comum no transtorno bipolar (TB). Características clínicas, funcionalidade e história familiar dessa comorbidade são pouco estudadas. Objetivo Avaliar o perfil clínico, a carga familiar de transtornos psiquiátricos e o nível de funcionalidade em pacientes com TB em remissão que apresentam TOC comórbido e comparar os resultados com aqueles obtidos em pacientes com TB em remissão sem TOC. Métodos Indivíduos com TB-I em remissão foram avaliados usando a Entrevista Clínica Estruturada para o DSM-IV- Transtornos do Eixo I, Escala de Avaliação Global do Funcionamento, Escala de Depressão de Hamilton, Escala de Mania de Young, Escala Obsessivo-Compulsiva de Yale-Brown e Entrevista Familiar para Estudos Genéticos. Pacientes com TB com e sem TOC foram comparados. Diferenças entre os grupos foram analisadas usando o teste do qui-quadrado e o teste t para amostras independentes. Valores <0,05 foram considerados estatisticamente significativos. Resultados Dos 90 pacientes com TB-I em remissão, 35,5% (n=32) tinham sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos/TOC. O grupo com TB-TOC mostrou escores significativamente mais baixos na Escala de Avaliação Global do Funcionamento, maiores taxas de tentativas de suicídio, hospitalizações, episódios maníacos e depressivos quando comparado ao grupo com apenas TB (p<0,05). Além disso, familiares de primeiro e segundo grau mostraram maiores níveis de TB-TOC e TOC, mas não de TB. Conclusões TB-TOC se caracteriza por TB de maior gravidade, mais disfunção e maior carga familiar de TB-TOC e TOC. Estudos maiores envolvendo familiares de probandos ajudarão a confirmar nossos achados e a delinear o status nosológico de TB-TOC comórbidos.