The use of the GBI as predictor of bipolar disorder in a population of adolescent offspring of parents with a bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the usefulness of the General Behavior Inventory (GBI) to predict the development of mood disorders in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder.

METHOD

The GBI and the K-SADS (first measurement) and the SCID (last measurement) were used to assess psychopathology among 129 adolescent and young adult offspring of a bipolar parent with an interval of 5 years. Based on the SCID results at the last measurement, the offspring were assigned to one of four groups: with bipolar mood disorder, with unipolar mood disorders, with non-mood disorders and without disorders and GBI-scores at the first measurement were compared across the four groups.

RESULTS

The scores on the Depression scale of the GBI for the offspring who later developed a bipolar or any mood disorder were significantly higher than for the offspring who did not develop a mood disorder across a 5-year interval. For the offspring with a unipolar mood disorder at the first measurement, the scores on the Depression scale were significantly higher for those who switched to bipolar disorder versus those who remained unipolar.

CONCLUSIONS

The GBI can be used in a high-risk sample of offspring of parents with bipolar disorder as a self-report measure as an aid to detect those who will develop bipolar disorder across a 5-year interval.