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Juvenile bipolar disorder and suicidality: a review of the last 10 years of literature

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Abstract

Although children and adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) are at elevated risk for suicide, little research to date has been conducted on suicidality in this population. The purpose of this descriptive review of the past 10 years of scientific literature on suicidality in youths with BD was to identify the risk and protective factors associated with this phenomenon, and to discuss the implications for research and clinical practice. Searches on Medline and PsycINFO databases for the period from early 2002 to mid-2012 yielded 16 relevant articles, which were subsequently explored using an analysis grid. Note that the authors employed a consensus analysis approach at all stages of the review. Four primary categories of risk factors for suicidality in youths with BD were identified: demographic (age and gender), clinical (depression, mixed state or mixed features specifier, mania, anxiety disorders, psychotic symptoms, and substance abuse), psychological (cyclothymic temperament, hopelessness, poor anger management, low self-esteem, external locus of control, impulsivity and aggressiveness, previous suicide attempts, and history of suicide ideation, non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors and past psychiatric hospitalization), and family/social (family history of attempted suicide, family history of depression, low quality of life, poor family functioning, stressful life events, physical/sexual abuse, and social withdrawal). Youths with BD who experienced more complex symptomatic profiles were at greater risk of suicidality. Few protective factors associated with suicidality have been studied among youths with BD. One protective factor was found in this descriptive literature review: the positive effects of dialectical behavior therapy. This article allows a better appreciation of the risk and protective factors associated with suicidality among youth with BD. Greater awareness of risk factors is the first step in suicide prevention.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Center for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia for financing the translation of this paper, and the members of the laboratory for research on suicide and mood disorders at Université du Québec à Montréal for their essential advices and comments. Moreover, we would like to thank the reviewers and the editor for their critical and constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, succursale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Natacha Halfon & Réal Labelle

  2. Département de psychiatrie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

    Réal Labelle, Jean-Marc Guilé & Jean-Jacques Breton

  3. Département de psychiatrie, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France

    David Cohen

  4. Centre de recherche et d’intervention sur le suicide et l’euthanasie, Montreal, Canada

    Natacha Halfon & Réal Labelle

  5. Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Montreal, Canada

    Natacha Halfon, Réal Labelle & Jean-Jacques Breton

  6. McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Montreal, Canada

    Jean-Jacques Breton

  7. Clinique des troubles de l’humeur et Service de recherche, Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, Canada

    Natacha Halfon, Réal Labelle, David Cohen, Jean-Marc Guilé & Jean-Jacques Breton

  8. Service de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent du Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France

    David Cohen & Jean-Marc Guilé

  9. Centre de consultation et de cure ambulatoire, Crépy-en-Valois, France

    Jean-Marc Guilé

Authors
  1. Natacha Halfon
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  2. Réal Labelle
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  3. David Cohen
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  4. Jean-Marc Guilé
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  5. Jean-Jacques Breton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natacha Halfon.

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Halfon, N., Labelle, R., Cohen, D. et al. Juvenile bipolar disorder and suicidality: a review of the last 10 years of literature. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 22, 139–151 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-012-0328-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-012-0328-z

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