Skip to main content
Log in

Bipolar disorder in youth: An update

  • Published:
Current Psychosis & Therapeutics Reports

Abstract

The authors highlight some of the important findings regarding juvenile-onset bipolar disorder that have been published in recent years. Topics covered include the impact of definition on understanding epidemiologic studies of early-onset bipolar disorder, comorbidity, developmental risk factors, switching and medication response, family studies, and treatment. Some of the controversy surrounding bipolar disorder in youth diminishes if bipolar disorder is viewed as a spectrum, and children may fit along the spectrum without meeting full criteria for classic bipolar I disorder.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References and Recommended Reading

  1. Tramontina S, Schmitz M, Polanczyk G, Rohde LA:Juvenile bipolar disorder in Brazil: clinical and treatment findings.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:1043–1049.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Biederman J, Faraone S, Mick E,et al.:Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and juvenile mania: an overlooked comorbidity? J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1996,35:997–1008.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Biederman J:Resolved: mania is mistaken for ADHD in prepubertal children.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1998,37:1091–1093.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Geller B, Zimerman B, Williams M,et al.:DSM-IV mania symptoms in a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype compared to attention deficit hyperactive and normal controls.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2002,12:11–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Geller B, Zimerman B, Williams M,et al.:Phenomenology of prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder: examples of elated mood, grandiose behaviors, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, and hypersexuality.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2002,12:3–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Biederman J, Birmaher B, Carlson GA,et al.:National Institute of Mental Health research roundtable on prepubertal bipolar disorder.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2001,40:871–878.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Leibenluft E, Charney DS, Towbin KE,et al.:Defining clinical phenotypes of juvenile mania.Am J Psychiatry 2003,160:430–437.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Geller B, Craney JL, Bolhofner K,et al.:Two year prospective follow up of children with a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype.Am J Psychiatry 2002,159:927–933.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hazell PL, Carr V, Lewin TJ, Sly K:Manic symptoms in young males with ADHD predict functioning but not diagnosis after 6 years.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2003,42:552–560.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Lewinsohn PM, Klein DN, Seeley JR:Bipolar disorder during adolescence and young adulthood in a community sample.Bipolar Disord 2000,2:281–293.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Costello EJ, Pine DS, Hammen C,et al.:Development and natural history of mood disorders.Biol Psychiatry 2002,52:529–542.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Harrington R, Myatt T:Is preadolescent mania the same condition as adult mania? A British perspective.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:961–969.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Thuppal M, Carlson GA, Sprafkin J, Gadow KD:Correspondence between adolescent report, parent report, and teacher report of manic symptoms.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2002,12:27–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Carlson GA, Youngstrom EA:Clinical implications of pervasive manic symptoms in children.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:1050–1058.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Biederman J, Mick F, Wozniak J,et al.:Can a subtype of conduct disorder linked to bipolar disorder be identified? Integration of findings from the Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Program.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:952–960.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Wozniak J, Biederman J, Monuteaux MC,et al.:Parsing the comorbidity between bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders: a familial risk analysis.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2002,12:101–111.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Masi G, Toni C, Perugi G,et al.:Externalizing disorderes in consecutively referred childre and adolescents with bipolar disorder.Comprehens Psychiatry 2003,44:184–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Soutullo CA, DelBello MP, Ochsner JE,et al.:Severity of bipolarity in hospitalized manic adolescents with history of stimulant or antidepressant treatment.J Affect Disord 2002,70:323–327.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Carlson GA, Bromet EJ, Driessens C,et al.:Age at onset, childhood psychopathology, and 2-year outcome in psy-chotic bipolar disorder.Am J Psychiatry 2002,159:307–309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Leverich GS, McElroy SL, Suppes T,et al.:Early physical and sexual abuse associated with an adverse course of bipolar illness.Biol Psychiatry 2002,51:288–297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hammersley P, Dias A, Todd G,et al.:Childhood trauma and hallucinations in bipolar affective disorder: preliminary investigation.Br J Psychiatry 2003,182:543–547.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Blumberg HP, Martin A, Kaufman J,et al.:Frontostriatal abnormalities in adolescents with bipolar disorder: preliminary observations from functional MRI.Am J Psychiatry 2003,160:1345–1347.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Chang K, Adleman N, Dienes K,et al.:Decreased N-acetylaspartate in children with familial bipolar disorder.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:1059–1065.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Meyer SE, Carlson GA, Wiggs EA,et al.:A prospective study of the association among impaired executive functioning, childhood attentional problems, and the development of bipolar disorder.Devel Psychopathol 2003, in press.

  25. Rao U, Dahl RE, Ryan ND,et al.:Heterogeneity in EEG sleep findings in adolescent depression: unipolar versus bipolar clinical course.J Affect Dis 2002,70:273–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Carlson GA:The bottom line.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:115–118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. DelBello MP, Carlson GA, Tohen M,et al.:Rates and predictors of developing a manic or hypomanic episode 1 to 2 years following a first hospitalization for major depression with psychotic features.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:173–185.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Galanter CA, Carlson GA, Jensen PS,et al.:Response to methylphenidate in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and manic symptoms in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder titration trial.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:123–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Wilens TE, Biederman J, Kwon A,et al.:A systematic chart review of the nature of psychiatric adverse events in children and adolescents treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:143–152.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Carlson GA, Mick E:Drug induced disinhibition in psychiatrically hospitalized children.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:153–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Carlson GA, Kelly KL:Stimulant rebound: how common is it and what does it mean? J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:137–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chang K, Steiner H, Dienes K,et al.:Bipolar offspring: a window into bipolar disorder evolution.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:945–951.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Luby JL, Mrakotsky C:Depressed preschoolers with bipolar family history: a group at high risk for later switching to mania? J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:187–197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Egeland JA, Shaw JA, Endicott J,et al.:Prospective study of prodromal features for bipolarity in well Amish children.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2003,42:786–796.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Duffy A, Alda M, Kutcher S,et al.:A prospective study of the offspring of bipolar parents responsive and nonresponsive to lithium treatment.J Clin Psychiatry 2002,63:1171–1178.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Grof P, Duffy A, Cavazzoni P,et al.:Is response to prophylactic lithium a familial trait? J Clin Psychiatry 2002,63:942–947.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Carlson GA, Jensen PS, Findling RL,et al.:Methodological issues and controversies in clinical trials with child and adolescent patients with bipolar disorder: report of a consensus conference.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2003,13:13–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Gracious BL, Youngstrom EA, Findling RL, Calabrese JR:Discriminative validity of a parent version of the Young Mania Rating Scale.J Am Acad. Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2002,41:1350–1359.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Danielson CK, Youngstrom EA, Findling RL, Calabrese JR:Discriminative validity of the General Behavior Inventory using youth report.J Abnorm Child Psychol 2003,31:29–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Findling RL, Youngstrom EA, Danielson CK,et al.:Clinical decision-making using the General Behavior Inventory in juvenile bipolarity.Bipolar Disord 2002,4:34–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Masi G, Mucci M, Millepiedi S:Clozapine in adolescent inpatients with acute mania.J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2002,12:93–99.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Wagner KD, Weller EB, Carlson GA,et al.:An open-label trial of divalproex in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2002,41:1224–1230.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. DelBello MP, Schwiers ML, Rosenberg HL, Strakowski SM:A double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of quetiapine as adjunctive treatment for adolescent mania.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2002,41:1216–1223.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Kowatch RA, Suppes T, Carmody TJ,et al.:Effect size of lithium, divalproex, and carbamazepine in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2000,39:713–720.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Kowatch R, Sethuraman G, Hume JH,et al.:Combination pharmacotherapy in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder.Biol Psychiatry 2003,53:978–984.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Findling RL, McNamara NK, Gracious BL,et al.:Combination lithium and divalproex sodium in pediatric bipolarity.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2003,42:895–901.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. McIntyre RS, Mancini DA, McCann S,et al.:Valproate, bipolar disorder, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.Bipolar Disord 2003,5:28–35.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Grauso Eby NL, Goldfarb O, Feldman Winter LB, McAbee GN:Acute pancreatitis in children from valproic acid: case series and review.Pediatr Neurol 2003,28:145–148.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Fristad MA, Goldberg-Arnold JS, Gavazzi SM:Multifamily psychoeducation groups (MFPG) for families of children with bipolar disorder.Bipolar Disord 2002,4:254–262.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Meyer, S.E., Carlson, G.A. Bipolar disorder in youth: An update. Current Psychosis & Therapeutics Reports 1, 79–84 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02629386

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02629386

Keywords

Navigation