Exploring Factors Relating to Positive Outcomes for Youth with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder: A Multi-Informant, Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Bipolar Spectrum Disorder (BSD) is a severe psychiatric disorder, and relatively little is known about positive outcomes for youth with this diagnosis. Employing a multi-informant, mixed-methods approach, this study sought to a) gain a deeper understanding of positive factors identified by youth with a diagnosis of BSD and their caregivers; and b) understand how the parenting context relates to positive functioning among youth with a diagnosis of BSD. A clinical sample of 18 families with a youth diagnosed with BSD participated, completing measures of parenting style, resiliency, positive schemas, mania, depression, and a telephone interview with a qualitative component. Qualitative analyses revealed most caregivers described their youth with BSD as having strong interpersonal relationship qualities and positive internal characteristics. Youth responses cohered largely with caregiver responses. Parental acceptance related to all measures of positive functioning, and results further suggested positive schemas may be one mechanism linking parental acceptance to resiliency for youth with BSD. Despite the severity of a BSD diagnosis, caregivers and youth reported on many positive aspects of their experiences. These results also inform a more complex view of the relation between parenting and resiliency for youth with BSD. With replication, the findings from this preliminary sample may inform the design of future measures of positive functioning for youth with BSD and inform the development of treatment and intervention programs for families coping with BSD.