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Aggression, hostility, and irritability in children at risk for bipolar disorder.

Farchione TR, Birmaher B, Axelson D, Kalas C, Monk K, Ehmann M, Iyengar S, Kupfer D, Brent D

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Objectives: To assess aggression, irritability and hostility in children at risk for bipolar disorder (BP). Methods: Using the parent and the child versions of the Children's Hostility Inventory (CHI), we assessed aggression, hostility, and irritability in 300 offspring aged 6-18 years old of BP parents and 169 children of community controls. Results: Children of BP parents have significantly higher scores on the total CHI and its subscales than do children of control parents. After adjusting for demographic variables, both parents' non-BP psychopathology, child psychopathology, and within-family correlations, three factors remain significant: total CHI by parent rating, irritability subscale by parent rating, and irritability by child self-report. The hostility subscale by parent rating became a trend. Conclusions: Children of BP parents score higher on ratings of hostility and irritability than children of community control parents, independent of child psychopathology and non-BP parental psychopathology. Follow-up of these children to evaluate whether these symptoms are markers for the development of BP or mood disorders is warranted.

Published 7 August 2007 in Bipolar Disord, 9(5): 496-503.
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