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Conduct disorder and mania: what does it mean in adults
G A Carlson1, E J Bromet, L Jandorf
1Putman Hall, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 11794-8790, USA. gcarlson@epo.som.sunysb.edu
Objective:
Because of the relationship between childhood behavior disorders and adult substance abuse, we hypothesized that substance abusing adult bipolars were more likely to have had behavior disorders as children than nonabusing bipolar adults.
Methods:
Conduct disorder (CD) symptoms in 132 bipolar adults were compared by age and presence of comorbid substance use problems using data from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study.
Results:
Rates of CD were higher in bipolar subjects under age 30 (32.6%) versus those over (16.3% P<0.05). Young BPs with substance use problems (SUBST) had CD rates three times those without SUBST (52% vs. 14.8%) (P < 0.01). Young subjects without mania or SUBST had CD rates of 7.75%.
Conclusion:
Substance abuse in bipolar adults may be more related to childhood conduct disorder than uncomplicated bipolar disorder.