A 16-year prospective study of prodromal features prior to BPI onset in well Amish children.

Background: Longitudinal research of well Amish children over 16 years to identify the pattern and frequency of prodromal symptoms/behaviors associated with onset of BPI disorder during childhood or adolescence.

Methods: Parental informants were interviewed annually using structured and semi-structured interviews to record medical, developmental and behavioral/symptomatic data for their children in two samples. The bipolar sample had 115 children with a BPI parent.

A 10-year prospective study of prodromal patterns for bipolar disorder among Amish youth.

Objective: Prospective study of well children at risk of bipolarity to identify the frequency and pattern of potentially prodromal symptoms/behaviors for bipolar disorder type I (BPI) disorder.

Method: A total of 110 at-risk children with a BPI parent and 112 children with well parents were studied. Ten-year data collection used structured and semistructured annual interviews covering developmental, medical, and behavioral features.

Prospective study of prodromal features for bipolarity in well Amish children.

Objective: A prospective study of psychiatrically well Amish children to determine differences in the frequency and pattern of clinical features that may be prodromal for bipolar I disorder.

Method: Children with a bipolar I parent (n = 100) and children of well parents in a matched control sample (n = 110) were assessed annually for 7 years with semistructured interviews covering medical/developmental features and symptoms/behaviors that are possibly prodromal for bipolarity. Randomized histories of these 210 children were evaluated blindly by 4 clinicians for independent ratings of risk for bipolarity.