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Attachment and temperament profiles among the offspring of a parent with bipolar disorder

S Doucette1, J Horrocks, P Grof

  • 1Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Journal of Affective Disorders
|March 5, 2013
PubMed

Insights

High emotionality, not attachment, predicts psychopathology in children of parents with bipolar disorder (BD). This finding suggests emotionality may be a risk factor for mental health issues in high-risk youth.

Area of Science:

  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Psychopathology Research

Background:

  • Attachment styles are linked to mood disorders and temperament.
  • Associations between attachment, temperament, and psychopathology in children with a parent with bipolar disorder (BD) are not well understood.
  • This study examines these relationships in high-risk (HR) offspring.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between attachment, temperament, and psychopathology in children with a parent with BD.
  • To compare high-risk (HR) offspring with control (C) offspring.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective cohort study design.
  • Annual clinical assessments using KSADS-PL interviews for HR and C offspring.
  • Validated self-report measures of perceived attachment and temperament were administered.

Main Results:

  • Perceived attachment did not differ between HR and C offspring.
  • Attachment did not predict psychopathology or mood disorder.
  • High emotionality significantly predicted increased risk of psychopathology (hazard ratio=1.36) and mood disorder (hazard ratio=1.24) in HR offspring.

Conclusions:

  • Attachment may not be grossly abnormal in HR offspring compared to controls.
  • The role of emotionality as a barometer of illness or a true risk factor requires further investigation.
  • Longitudinal research is needed to understand psychosocial risk factors in BD development and inform early interventions for HR youth.
Abstract

Keywords:
AttachmentBipolar disorderEarly adversityHigh-risk studiesTemperament

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