Predicting Onset of Bipolar Disorder in Children at High Risk: Part II
At the 2019 meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, one symposium was devoted to new research on predicting onset of bipolar disorder in children who have a family history of the disorder. Below are some of the findings that were reported.
Early Recognition and Treatment Needed
Researcher Boris Birmaher, the discussant of the symposium, described a sample of 100 children between the ages of 2 and 5; half had a parent with bipolar disorder, and these were compared to community controls. Those children who had a parent with bipolar disorder had a high incidence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ODD, and their conversion to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder was predicted by early age of onset of bipolar disorder in the parent (again) and by the presence of family conflict.
Birmaher emphasized that a delay before children and adolescents with bipolar disorder received their first treatment for the illness had terrible effects—more suicide attempts, completed suicides, substance abuse, and school failure. Birmaher urged early recognition of bipolar disorder and adequate treatment in order to delay onset of the disorder and to render its course more benign.
Childhood-Onset Bipolar Disorder Incidence
Researcher Anna Van Meter and colleagues showed that the incidence of bipolar disorder in children is about 2% worldwide. Researcher Kathleen Merikangas and colleagues report that 80% of adolescents with a bipolar spectrum disorder are not receiving any kind of treatment. Researcher Ben Goldstein indicated that about 50% of those with a full diagnosis of bipolar disorder receive treatment in Canada (where such treatment is cost-free).
Delayed Treatment Leads to Compounding Challenges
Since longer intervals without treatment predict poorer outcomes in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and early onset bipolar disorder has been linked to longer delays before first treatment, a significant number of children, particularly in the US, are at risk for disastrous outcomes. Earlier recognition and treatment is imperative, especially since even bipolar disorder not otherwise specified (BP-NOS) can be severe, impairing, associated with multiple simultaneous comorbid diagnoses, and has a familial (genetic) basis.
