Mai Uchida1, Giulia Serra2, Lazaro Zayas3, Tara Kenworthy4, Stephen V Faraone5, Joseph Biederman6. 1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: muchida@partners.org. 2. Sant׳Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University, NESMOS Department, Rome, Italy; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States. 3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States. 4. Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Boston, MA, United States. 5. SUNY Upstate Medical University, Departments of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience and Physiology, United States. 6. Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: While pediatric mania and depression can be distinguished from each other, differentiating between unipolar major depressive disorder (unipolar MDD) and bipolar major depression (bipolar MDD) poses unique clinical and therapeutic challenges. Our aim was to examine the current body of knowledge on whether unipolar MDD and bipolar MDD in youth could be distinguished from one another in terms of clinical features and correlates. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted on studies assessing the clinical characteristics and correlates of unipolar MDD and bipolar MDD in youth. RESULTS: Four scientific papers that met our priori inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified. These papers reported that bipolar MDD is distinct from unipolar MDD in its higher levels of depression severity, associated impairment, psychiatric co-morbidity with oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and anxiety disorders, and family history of mood and disruptive behavior disorders in first-degree relatives. LIMITATIONS: Though we examined a sizeable and diverse sample, we were only able to identify four cross sectional informative studies in our review. Therefore, our conclusions should be viewed as preliminary. CONCLUSIONS: These findings can aid clinicians in differentiating the two forms of MDD in youth.
INTRODUCTION: While pediatric mania and depression can be distinguished from each other, differentiating between unipolar major depressive disorder (unipolar MDD) and bipolar major depression (bipolar MDD) poses unique clinical and therapeutic challenges. Our aim was to examine the current body of knowledge on whether unipolar MDD and bipolar MDD in youth could be distinguished from one another in terms of clinical features and correlates. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted on studies assessing the clinical characteristics and correlates of unipolar MDD and bipolar MDD in youth. RESULTS: Four scientific papers that met our priori inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified. These papers reported that bipolar MDD is distinct from unipolar MDD in its higher levels of depression severity, associated impairment, psychiatric co-morbidity with oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and anxiety disorders, and family history of mood and disruptive behavior disorders in first-degree relatives. LIMITATIONS: Though we examined a sizeable and diverse sample, we were only able to identify four cross sectional informative studies in our review. Therefore, our conclusions should be viewed as preliminary. CONCLUSIONS: These findings can aid clinicians in differentiating the two forms of MDD in youth.
Authors: Lakshmi N Yatham; Sidney H Kennedy; Sagar V Parikh; Ayal Schaffer; David J Bond; Benicio N Frey; Verinder Sharma; Benjamin I Goldstein; Soham Rej; Serge Beaulieu; Martin Alda; Glenda MacQueen; Roumen V Milev; Arun Ravindran; Claire O'Donovan; Diane McIntosh; Raymond W Lam; Gustavo Vazquez; Flavio Kapczinski; Roger S McIntyre; Jan Kozicky; Shigenobu Kanba; Beny Lafer; Trisha Suppes; Joseph R Calabrese; Eduard Vieta; Gin Malhi; Robert M Post; Michael Berk Journal: Bipolar Disord Date: 2018-03-14 Impact factor: 6.744
Authors: Rasim Somer Diler; Tina R Goldstein; Danella Hafeman; John Merranko; Fangzi Liao; Benjamin I Goldstein; Heather Hower; Mary Kay Gill; Jeffrey Hunt; Shirley Yen; Martin B Keller; David Axelson; Michael Strober; Satish Iyengar; Neal D Ryan; Boris Birmaher Journal: J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol Date: 2017-02-28 Impact factor: 2.576
Authors: Giulia Serra; Maria Elena Iannoni; Monia Trasolini; Gino Maglio; Camilla Frattini; Maria Pia Casini; Ross J Baldessarini; Stefano Vicari Journal: Brain Sci Date: 2021-03-29