Prediction of transition from common adolescent bipolar experiences to bipolar disorder: 10-year study

Marijn J. A. Tijssen, Jim van Os, Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, Roselind Lieb, Katja Beesdo-Baum, Ron Mengelers, Marieke Wichers*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background Although (hypo)manic symptoms are common in adolescence, transition to adult bipolar disorder is infrequent. Aims To examine whether the risk of transition to bipolar disorder is conditional on the extent of persistence of subthreshold affective phenotypes. Method In a 10-year prospective community cohort study of 3021 adolescents and young adults, the association between persistence of affective symptoms over 3 years and the 10-year clinical outcomes of incident DSM-IV (hypo)manic episodes and incident use of mental healthcare was assessed. Results Transition to clinical outcome was associated with persistence of symptoms in a dose-dependent manner. Around 30-40% of clinical outcomes could be traced to prior persistence of affective symptoms. Conclusions In a substantial proportion of individuals, onset of clinical bipolar disorder may be seen as the poor outcome of a developmentally common and usually transitory non-clinical bipolar phenotype.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)102-108
JournalBritish Journal of Psychiatry
Volume196
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2010

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