Psychopathology in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: three studies exploring risk

Offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (BD) are at high risk for psychiatric disorders, but mechanisms conferring risk are not well understood. Identifying and understanding factors that increase offspring vulnerability may inform intervention efforts. Three studies examined the following risk factors: (1) obstetric complications (OCs); (2) family functioning; and (3) clinical characteristics of parental BD. Investigations included cross-sectional data from two Massachusetts General Hospital studies of 109 BD parents and 206 offspring. Study 1 examined associations between: (1) maternal lifetime comorbid anxiety and OCs in pregnancy/delivery; (2) OCs and development of offspring psychopathology. Associations emerged between maternal anxiety and OCs. OCs, particularly during delivery, also correlated with offspring anxiety disorders. Path analyses revealed that delivery complications mediated the relationship between maternal and offspring anxiety. Study 2 examined associations between family functioning (cohesion, expressiveness, conflict) and offspring psychopathology, and explored moderation by