Introduction: The importance of the appropriate therapeutic interventions in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) cannot be overstated since treatment choices and their consequences may have effects into adulthood.
Areas covered: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) investigating treatment of mania, bipolar depression, and maintenance in adolescents with BD are reviewed. When RCTs are not available or are inadequate, naturalistic data or open studies are also reviewed.
Expert opinion: Efficacy and safety of pharmaceutical agents in adolescents with BD appear to mirror adults with BD. Lithium/mood stabilizers are preferred first-line agents over antipsychotic medications, but the latter are second-line agents particularly in bipolar depression. When lithium is used, serum levels approaching 1.0 mEq/L are reasonable since younger people appear to require/tolerate higher levels. Among the antipsychotics, quetiapine appeared to be minimally better than risperidone while risperidone was associated with greater adverse events. Antipsychotics with antidepressant activity in adults also appear to have antidepressant effects in youths. Use of antidepressants in bipolar depression is generally not recommended although it may be reasonable in specific clinical situations. The similarities between adolescent and adult outcomes suggest that it is reasonable to utilize adult data to aid with clinical decision making in adolescents with BD.
Keywords: Adolescents; antidepressants; antipsychotics; bipolar disorder; depression; mania; mood stabilizers; pediatrics; psychopharmacotherapy; treatment; youth.