Children of Parents With Bipolar Disorder May Have Increased Motor Activity

BOSTON—Children with a familial risk for bipolar I disorder may have increased energy and motor activity, according to research presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Compared with healthy controls, children at familial risk for bipolar disorder also displayed decreased persistence on tasks with easy distraction, stated Manpreet K. Singh, MD, and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati.

Few studies have investigated the relationship in families affected by bipolar disorder, said Dr. Singh, an Instructor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stanford University in California. Comparing the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder with a demographically similar control group, the researchers theorized, would demonstrate that children of bipolar parents have distinct temperaments that likely correlate with the development of psychopathology.

To test their hypothesis, the investigators used the Dimensions of Temperament Survey–Revised (DOTS-R)  to evaluate temperament in 31 children and adolescents (ages 8 to 18) of parents with bipolar I disorder and 21 age-matched offspring of parents without any DSM-IV diagnosis. Subscales of the DOTS-R included activity level, ability to follow daily routines, mood, task orientation, and the ability to adapt to and approach new situations. The Washington University in St. Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, administered to parents and children separately, was used to determine the presence of psychopathology.

The researchers found that the differences in temperament scores in both groups were not significant. However, in subscale analysis, the children of bipolar parents had higher activity levels and lower task orientation scores than did the control subjects. Bipolar offspring who had mood disorders exhibited a decreased tendency to approach and adapt to new situations, a decreased ability to follow the same daily sleep patterns, and a decreased persistence on tasks, compared with bipolar offspring without mood disorders. In addition, bipolar offspring with ADHD differed from those without ADHD in having lower task orientation scores.

—Jessica Jannicelli

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