Is there progression from irritability/dyscontrol to major depressive and manic symptoms? A retrospective community survey of parents of bipolar children.

Background: Although previous studies have discussed age-related changes in the presentation of early onset bipolar illness, the developmental progression of early symptoms remains unclear. The current study sought to trace parents' retrospective report of yearly occurrence of symptoms in a sample of children with and without a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the community.

Methods: Parents retrospectively rated the occurrence of 37 activated and withdrawn symptoms causing dysfunction for each year of their child's life (mean age 12.