CME Article

Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Angelica L. Kloos, DO; Adelaide S. Robb, MD

  • Pediatric Annals
  • October 2011 - Volume 40 · Issue 10: 481-487
  • DOI: 10.3928/00904481-20110914-04
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Abstract

One of the most controversial diagnoses in child and adolescent psychiatry is bipolar disorder.1 Early psychiatrists such as Kraeplin recognized that bipolar disorder could occur in prepubertal children, although at low rates of 0.3% to 0.5%.2 As the psychiatric establishment from the 1920s to the 1970s embraced Anna Freud’s view of psychosocial development, practitioners believed that children did not have the ego development to show signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder, thus it was rarely diagnosed.3 In the 1970s, the advent of biological psychiatry changed treatment paradigms for adults with bipolar disorder, and psychiatrists once again began to consider the bipolar diagnosis in children and adolescents. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder included information about the presentation of this affective disorder in children and adolescents, which was continued in DSM-IV-TR.
AUTHORS

Both authors are affiliated with The George Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC. Angelica L. Kloos, DO, is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. Adelaide S. Robb, MD, is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics.

Dr. Kloos has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Robb has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships: grant support — NICHD; Supernus, GlaxoSmithKline; Merck/Schering Plough; Johnson & Johnson; grant advisory board — Forest; advisory board and speakers’ bureau — McNeil Pediatrics; royalties — Epocrates; advisory board and speakers’ bureau — Eli Lilly; grant, advisory board, speakers’ bureau — Bristol-Myers Squibb; grant and advisory board — Otsuka America; and consultant — Lundbeck, Shinogi.

Address correspondence to: Adelaide Robb, MD, via email: .arobb@childrensnational.org

doi: 10.3928/00904481-20110914-04

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