Mood Disorders in Childhood

Abstract

Many advances have been made in developing and testing psychosocial treatments for children with mood disorders. This chapter reviews current information on depression and bipolar disorder in childhood. Nine empirically based treatment studies of depressive disorders that include children in their samples have been published. Although review of the precise research findings from each study is beyond the scope of this chapter, each treatment showed some type of significant improvement in its sample, in either reduced symptomatology, increased knowledge, or improved family functioning. Three psychosocial treatments have been tested in children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. All three studies showed significant improvements in their sample posttreatment. Examples of these improvements include increases in parental knowledge of these treatments, lower ratings of severity of symptoms, and improved family climate. Much more work is needed to develop empirically proven treatments for bipolar disorder in children. This chapter includes a clinical vignette describing the treatment of an 11-year-old boy with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder-not otherwise specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)