Childhood maltreatment and polygenic risk in bipolar disorders.

Background: Childhood maltreatment is a well-known risk factor for developing a more severe and complex form of bipolar disorders (BD). However, knowledge is scarce about the interactions between childhood maltreatment and underlying genetic vulnerability on the clinical expression of BD.

Method: We assigned a BD-polygenic risk score (BD-PRS), calculated from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, to each individual in a sample of 402 cases with BD.

The role of childhood trauma in bipolar disorders.

This review will discuss the role of childhood trauma in bipolar disorders. Relevant studies were identified via Medline (PubMed) and PsycINFO databases published up to and including July 2015. This review contributes to a new understanding of the negative consequences of early life stress, as well as setting childhood trauma in a biological context of susceptibility and discussing novel long-term pathophysiological consequences in bipolar disorders.

Psychometric properties of the Affective Lability Scale (54 and 18-item version) in patients with bipolar disorder, first-degree relatives, and healthy controls.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the original 54 item version (ALS-54) and the short 18 item version (ALS-18) of the Affective Lability Scale (ALS) in patients with bipolar disorders, their first-degree relatives and healthy controls. Internal Consistency and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed, comparing clinical and non-clinical group comparisons on ALS scores.

Methods: A total of 993 participants (patients with bipolar disorders [n=422], first-degree relatives [n=201] and controls [n=370]) were recruited from France and Norway.

Affective lability in patients with bipolar disorders is associated with high levels of childhood trauma.

This study aimed to investigate associations between a history of childhood trauma and levels of affective lability in bipolar patients compared to controls. Forty-two patients and 14 controls were assessed using the Affective Lability Scale (ALS) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Affective Lability Score was significantly associated with scores on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.