Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Factors of Bipolar Mood Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Identifying the Principal Predictors

Our objective is to measure the prevalence of bipolar mood disorder (BMD) in Iranian children and adolescents and its comorbidity with psychiatric disorders. Also, the main purpose of this study is to characterize the main risk factors for BMD in children and adolescents.

This is an analytical cross-sectional study. In a community-based study, we sampled 1000 children and adolescents from the age of 6 to 18 years in each province via the multistage cluster sampling method. The total valid sample size reached 29 812 cases. The instructed clinical psychologists completed the Persian version of the kiddie schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL). Furthermore, the demographic data were obtained. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, multinomial, and multiple logistic regressions were utilized to evaluate the relationships.

The total prevalence rates for BMD were 0.29%; it was 0.26% in males and 0.29% in females. BMD rates were larger in children and adolescents whose mothers had an occupation. Also, after controlling the effective variables (sex and age), location (rural or urban), the father’s education, and the psychiatric hospitalization of the mother or the father, none predicted BMD significantly. Moreover, patients with comorbidities showed a superior prevalence compared to those without comorbidities, ranging from 1.96% for posttraumatic stress disorder to 39.22% for the oppositional defiant disorder.

BMD was more prevalent among women. The gender or the father’s education level was not the risk factor for BMD symptoms. Several factors, such as maternal education and maternal job were also important for the prevalence of BMD symptoms.