Detailed contribution information
| Contribution title | 2654 - Temperament and neuropsychological characteristics as the vulnerability markers of bipolar disorder? |
|---|---|
| Contribution code | PS03-27 (P) |
| Authors | |
| Form of presentation | Poster |
| Topic |
|
| Abstract |
Objectives Children of parents with bipolar disorder (BD-off) have an increasingly higher risk of developing the illness than offspring of mentally healthy parents (HP-off) with estimated heritability of 59%. Identifying early vulnerability markers in child and adolescent population is essential for effective intervention. Possible candidates markers are deficits in neuropsychological functioning that were observed in adult patients with BD. Temperament traits are another candidate vulnerability markers of future development of BD in the youth. We conducted this case control exploratory study to enrich the knowledge on the vulnerability markers (cognitive and temperament traits) in population at genetic risk of BD. Methods Parents with BD and at least one child were invited to participate in the research. The control group was recruited by advertisements placed in local primary and secondary schools. We applied The Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire for the assessment of temperament traits in children aged 7 – 10 years, The Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire was used in children older than 10 years. Both the BD-off and the HP-off were tested for intellectual abilities, verbal fluency and memory, psychomotor speed, attention, executive functions and social cognition. Results 44 BD-off and 46 HP-off were enrolled. The BD-off (22 girls; age mean = 12.3 ± 3.4 years; range = 6.7 - 19.4) did not differ in sex and age from the HP-Off. Significant differences in the temperament traits were as follows: BD-off had higher scores on the Shyness scale (Cohen’s d = 0.59) and lower scores on the Activation Control (d = 0.57), Affiliation (d = 0.34), Activity Level (d = 0.47) and High Intensity Pleasure scales (d = 0.43) than HP-off. We did not observe any significant difference in neuropsychological tests. Standardized between group differences among tests ranged from 0.02 to 0.33. Conclusion Specific temperament traits could be the markers of vulnerability in the population at genetic and environmental risk for bipolar disorder. Children at risk of bipolar disorder did not have deficit in neuropsychological functioning. This study was funded by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. 17-32478A. |