MedWire News: People with early-onset bipolar disorder have a greater risk of developing borderline personality disorder than those who develop the mood condition in later life, research shows.
Previous research has indicated that people who develop bipolar disorder in childhood or adolescence are more likely to experience rapid cycling between mood episodes, attempt suicide, have substance abuse problems and spend fewer days well than those who develop the condition in later life.
To investigate whether age at onset of bipolar disorder is associated with the development of borderline personality disorder, Dr Joseph Goldberg, from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and team studied 100 bipolar disorder patients who were attending their clinic.
In total, 55 patients had early-onset bipolar disorder – defined as developing the condition before the age of 19 years.
Using a variety of psychiatric tests, the researchers found that 16 patients met the criteria for borderline personality disorder.
Analysis revealed that patients with borderline personality disorder had a significantly younger average age of bipolar disorder onset, at 12.7 years, compared with bipolar patients without borderline personality disorder, at 19.7 years.
After accounting for age, gender, ethnicity, a history of childhood abuse and other factors, the researchers calculated that for every 1-year delay in the onset of bipolar disorder, the risk for developing co-occurring borderline personality disorder fell by 9%.
Dr Goldberg and team conclude: “Early onset of bipolar disorder increases the probability of developing comorbid [co-occurring] borderline personality disorder, independent of the effects of severe childhood trauma/abuse.”
They add that further studies are needed to “differentiate the relative influence of traumatic events in childhood or adolescence from the contribution of early age at onset of a mood disorder”.
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009
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