Bipolar parents are often concerned about how their psychiatric illness may be affecting their children. “Children of Parents with Bipolar Disorder May Have Increased Motor Activity,” published in Neuropsychiatry Reviews, January 2008, volume 9, number 1, reported on research results presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The investigators studied 31 children of bipolar parents and compared them to matched controls. The results were interesting. “Compared with healthy controls, children at familial risk for bipolar disorder …displayed decreased persistence on tasks with easy distraction.” The results of this study suggest that bipolar parents should be alert to the development of symptoms of decreased persistence and easy distractibility in their children.
The Bottom Line: Children of bipolar parents may experience decreased persistence and easy distractibility.
Reference: http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/08jan/bipolar.html
Dr. Tanya Korkosz
Dr. Jeffrey Speller
Psychopharmacology Associates New England