Publications by authors named "Hower H"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to find out if mood episodes (depression and mania) in young people with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder vary by latitude and seasons.
  • - Researchers evaluated mood in 413 participants over nearly 92 months, finding that depressive episodes were more frequent in winter, while manic episodes were more common in summer.
  • - The findings suggest the need for strategies to manage the seasonal impacts on mood for individuals with Bipolar Disorder, especially recognizing the differences across various locations.
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Background: It is well known that COVID-19 significantly disrupted the routines of school sports for adolescent athletes. In transitioning from this "change event," athletes may need support with resuming their pre-pandemic level of activities, and addressing their ongoing mental health concerns, including exacerbated eating disorder symptoms. Emotional intelligence (the ability to understand emotions, influencing decisions and motivation) is a factor that has not yet been studied during this transition, but may serve as a coping mechanism for altered physical activity, mental health, and eating disorder symptoms.

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Objective: To assess medication adherence and factors associated with poor adherence in youth with bipolar disorder (BD) followed from adolescence through young adulthood.

Method: Participants with BD recruited through the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) study were included in this study if they were prescribed psychotropic medications and had at least 3 follow-up assessments of medication adherence (N= 179, ages 12-36). Medication adherence had been evaluated for a median of 8 years using a questionnaire derived from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

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Background: How we research eating disorder (ED) recovery impacts what we know (perceive as fact) about it. Traditionally, research has focused more on the "what" of recovery (e.g.

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Background: COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the routines of school sports for adolescent athletes, which can affect their usual eating behaviors and body image. Specific pressures of individual sports (which tend to emphasize "leanness" as a means to improving performance), versus team sports (which tend to not require "leanness" for an athlete to be competitive), may further increase the risk of disordered eating (DE), eating disorders (ED), and distorted body image. An additional factor to consider is the gender of the athletes, with participation in "lean" sports associated with increased DE and body dissatisfaction for male, but not female, athletes.

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Background: To identify prospectively ascertained individual and family factors that are associated with improvement in Bipolar Disorder (BD) among youths who initially presented with poor course.

Methods: 82 youths with BD with persistent poor mood symptomatology ("predominantly ill course") were compared to 70 youths with BD who at intake had poor course, but showed improvement during the follow-up ("ill with improving course"), (ages 12.3 ± 3.

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Background: Childhood abuse negatively impacts the course of Bipolar Disorder (BD). Yet, no study has examined risk factors associated with prospectively evaluated physical/sexual abuse, specifically, those preceding first abuse among BD youth. We investigate past/intake/follow-up factors preceding first physical/sexual abuse among BD youth.

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Background: The ability to predict an individual's risk of mood episode recurrence can facilitate personalized medicine in bipolar disorder (BD). We sought to externally validate, in an adult sample, a risk calculator of mood episode recurrence developed in youth/young adults with BD from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) study.

Methods: Adult participants from the National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Depression Study (CDS; N=258; mean(SD) age=35.

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Research suggests that individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) have certain temperamental traits (e.g. perfectionism, anxiety, harm avoidance), which often onset prior to the eating disorder (ED), and may persist following recovery.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated how facial emotion recognition deficits are linked to mood symptoms in young adults with childhood-onset bipolar disorder (BD) compared to typically developing controls (TDCs).
  • It found that individuals with BD made more mistakes in recognizing child emotional expressions, which correlated with their mood trajectories over time, impacting their levels of mania and depression.
  • The results suggest that improving facial emotion recognition could be a valuable target for treatment and understanding of mood disorders in those with childhood-onset BD.
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Background: Pediatric bipolar disorders are often characterized by disruptions in cognitive functioning, and exposure to child maltreatment (e.g., physical and sexual abuse) is associated with a significantly poorer course of illness.

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Objectives: While adults with bipolar disorder (BD) often report symptoms starting in childhood, continuity of mania and/or hypomania (mania/hypomania) from childhood to adulthood has been questioned. Using longitudinal data from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) study, we assessed threshold mania/hypomania in young adults who manifested BD as youth.

Methods: COBY is a naturalistic, longitudinal study of 446 youth with BD (84% recruited from outpatient clinics), 7-17 years old at intake, and over 11 years of follow-up.

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Objective: Despite substantial literature on sex differences in adults with bipolar disorder (BD), little is known about this topic in youth; this study examines sex differences in mood symptomatology and psychiatric comorbidity in prospectively followed youth with BD.

Methods: A subsample of the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study (N = 370; female n = 199, male n = 171) enrolled October 2000-July 2006 (age at intake = 7-17.11 years) who met DSM-IV criteria for bipolar I disorder (BD-I; n = 221), bipolar II disorder (BD-II; n = 26), or operationalized BD not otherwise specified (BD-NOS; n = 123) with ≥ 4 years follow-up was included.

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Objectives: Compare longitudinal trajectories of youth with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV Bipolar Disorder (BD), grouped at baseline by presence/absence of increased energy during their worst lifetime mood episode (required for DSM-5).

Methods: Participants from the parent Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study (N = 446) were assessed utilizing The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (KSADS), KSADS Mania Rating Scale (KMRS), and KSADS Depression Rating Scale (KDRS). Youth were grouped at baseline into those with increased energy (meeting DSM-5 Criteria A for mania) vs.

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Background: Exposure to severe Traumatic Events (TEs) has been associated with poor course and outcomes among individuals with Bipolar Disorder (BD). However, there is limited research on TEs among youth with BD, and few studies are longitudinal. This study prospectively followed a large sample of BD youth, examining the associations of lifetime TEs with their mood and functioning.

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Objectives: Few studies have examined domain-specific psychosocial functioning in Bipolar Disorder (BD) youths. This prospective study examines (1) Interpersonal Relationships with Family; (2) Interpersonal Relationships with Friends; (3) School/Work; (4) Recreation; (5) Life Satisfaction, in BD youths.

Method: A Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth subsample (n = 367; mean intake age = 12.

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Objective: With each recurrence the prognosis of bipolar disorder (BD) worsens, indicating the need to identify the factors associated with increased recurrence risk. The course of BD is heterogenous and although risk factors for recurrence for the group as a whole have been reported in the literature, identification of risk factors for a specific individual are crucial for developing personalized treatments.

Method: A total of 363 recovered BD youths/young adults from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) study were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study compares the clinical experiences and outcomes of youths with bipolar disorder who have experienced lifetime psychosis (BDP+) to those who haven't (BDP-), examining long-term effects over an average of 11.7 years.
  • BDP+ youths showed significantly higher rates of mood and anxiety symptoms, suicidality, hospitalizations, and adverse psychosocial conditions compared to BDP- youths, indicating a poorer prognosis even before the onset of psychosis.
  • Risk factors contributing to the first onset of psychosis included low socioeconomic status, single-parent households, specific types of bipolar disorder, comorbid anxiety, and a family history of psychiatric issues, highlighting the need for early intervention and targeted treatment strategies.
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