What factors determine which children or siblings of those with bipolar disorder will develop this condition and who will be resilient to this? Elucidation of such factors would enable development of rational preventive or early intervention programs.
The prospective longitudinal Bipolar Kids and Sibs Study has enrolled 150 children and young adults aged between 12 and 30 who are at risk of (BD) because they have a first degree relative with the disorder. Ten per cent of these individuals can be expected to go on to develop BD.
A third of the at-risk group had affective disorders, mainly depression, compared with 12% in the control group and 44% in the BD group. The at-risk group also had high rates of anxiety and behavioural disorders, around twofold higher than controls, with the BD group around eightfold higher. It shows that onset occurs earliest in the BD group, with the line for the at-risk group midway between the BD and controls.
