Impulsivity in children and adolescents with mood disorders and unaffected offspring of bipolar parents

Abstract

Objective Increased impulsivity seems to be present across all phases of bipolar disorder (BD). Impulsivity may therefore represent an endophenotype for BD, if it is also found among normal individuals at high genetic risk for mood disorders. In this study, we assessed impulsivity across four different groups of children and adolescents: patients with BD, major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, unaffected offspring of bipolar parents (UO), and healthy controls (HC). Subjects and Methods 52 patients with BD, 31 with MDD, 20 UO, and 45 HC completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), an instrument designed to measure trait impulsivity. Results UO displayed significantly higher total BIS-11 impulsivity scores than HC (p=0.02) but lower scores than BD patients (F=27.12, p<0.01). Multiple comparison analysis revealed higher BIS-11 total scores among BD patients when compared to HC (p<0.01) and UO (p<0.01). MDD patients had higher BIS-11 scores when compared to HC (p<0.01). Differences between MDD patients and UO, as well as between MDD and BD patients, were not statistically significant. Conclusion Our findings suggest that trait impulsivity is increased among children and adolescents with mood disorders, as well as in unaffected individuals at high genetic risk for BD.

Early Adolescent Trajectories of Impulsiveness and Sensation Seeking in Children of Fathers with Histories of Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders

“…Further, while our sample demographics of mostly Caucasian and Hispanic participants are consistent with the greater San Antonio metropolitan area, these findings may not necessarily generalize to other ethnic and racial FH+ and FH− populations. This study relied on self‐report data and did not include parent or other third party report measures, although the measures we used have been successfully used in populations in this age range before (e.g., Gilbert et al., ; Li et al., ; Nandagopal et al., ; Sanches et al., ). Furthermore, we included FH+ but not FH− youths with disorders common in families with substance use disorders because these diagnoses are associated with increased vulnerability for developing problem substance use (Iacono et al., ; Tarter, ).…”

“…We examined reliability of the BIS‐11 in this sample at baseline, and observed all measures had adequate to good internal consistency (Cronbach's α for BIS‐11 Total = 0.75, Attentional = 0.57, Motor = 0.53, and Non‐Planning = 0.66). The BIS‐11 has previously been used to assess impulsiveness in pre‐ and early adolescents as well as substance‐using populations (Burdick et al., ; Gilbert et al., ; Nandagopal et al., ; Sanches et al., ; Soloff et al., ).…”

The Utility of Impulsive Bias and Altered Decision Making as Predictors of Drug Efficacy and Target Selection: Rethinking Behavioral Screening for Antidepressant Drugs

“…Impulsivity appears to discriminate depressed subjects without a history of suicide attempts from those with a positive personal history (Perroud et al, 2011). Thus, increased impulsivity appears to be another aspect of executive function impairment in patients with mood disorders, and especially in those at increased risk for suicide (Westheide et al, 2008;McCullumsmith et al, 2014;Sanches et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2015).…”

Neurobiology of Risk for Bipolar Disorder

“…Response inhibition deficit was associated with the process of illness with psychotic features in BD, rather than being a vulnerability marker [28]. On the other hand, impulsivity as measured by BIS-11 (a self-report scale) seems to reveal more consistent signals as a candidate endophenotype both in children, adolescents [29], and adults [25, 30, 31], and as a predictor of onset of BD in reward-sensitive adolescents and young adults [32]. However, specificity of impulsivity to BD is questionable as it shows shared genetic liability with SCH and major depressive disorder [30] and requires further studies.…”