Longitudinal Study of Diagnoses in Children of Women With Unipolar and Bipolar Affective Disorder

Authors

Constance Hammen, University of California, Los Angeles
Dorli Burge
Elizabeth Burney Hamilton, George Fox UniversityFollow
Cheri Adrian

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1990

Abstract

School-age children of unipolar depressed, bipolar, chronically medically ill, or normal women were diagnosed every 6 months for up to 3 years. Offspring of unipolar women had the highest rates of disorder at all evaluations, but children of bipolar and medically ill mothers also experienced significant rates of disorder. Observing diagnoses from both past lifetime and prospective follow-up assessments, it appeared that most children who had diagnoses had onsets in preadolescence and continued a chronic or intermittent course of disorder. Thus, risk to offspring of ill mothers is not transitory and indicates a pernicious course that commonly includes affective disorders alone or in combination with behavior and anxiety disorders.

Comments

Originally published in Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 1112-1117.

Archives of General Psychiatry is now JAMA Psychiatry. See it here:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/495170

Recommended Citation

Hammen, Constance; Burge, Dorli; Hamilton, Elizabeth Burney; and Adrian, Cheri, "Longitudinal Study of Diagnoses in Children of Women With Unipolar and Bipolar Affective Disorder" (1990). Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program. 252.
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gscp_fac/252