The Early Manifestations of Bipolar Disorder - Essay Example

"The Early Manifestations of Bipolar Disorder" is an outstanding example of a paper on the disorder.
Duffy, Anne, Alda, Martin, Crawford, Leah, Milin, Robert, Grof, Paul. The early manifestations of bipolar disorder: a longitudinal prospective study of the offspring of bipolar parents. Bipolar Disorders 9: 2007. 828–838.

The objective of this study is to identify reliable early indicators of a developing bipolar disorder (BD) among offspring from well-characterized parents (bipolar parents who are participating in ongoing molecular genetic studies from various clinics in Canada). The investigators employ a longitudinal prospective research design to achieve their broad objective (Duffy et al. 829). This research approach combines two unique designs: longitudinal study and prospective study. A longitudinal study design involves taking measurements of the same individual repeatedly through time (thereby capturing any changes taking place) while a prospective study is one in which the researcher begins an investigation after the event of interest has occurred (as opposed to a retrospective study).

For this research, continuous monitoring of children was required so that any changes would be appropriately identified. It was expected that offspring of parents suffering from bipolar disease had a high likelihood of developing bipolar disorder. Since the changes in the development of the disorder were expected to occur as children developed, hence there was a need to monitor the changes. Consequently, the longitudinal design was appropriate. The prospective design was appropriate since the event of interest (developing bipolar disorder) had already been identified among parents of the offspring involved in the study. Hence, it can be concluded that the research design was appropriate. However, a cohort approach could also be employed so that confounders such as age can be controlled and thus improve the strength and validity of the findings.

Santosa, Claudia M., Strong, Connie M., Nowakowska, Cecylia, Wang, Po W., Rennicke, Courtney M., and Ketter, Terence A. Enhanced creativity in bipolar disorder patients: A controlled study. Journal of Affective Disorders 100: 2007. 31–39.

The objective of this study is to investigate associations between eminent creativity and bipolar disorders have been reported. The association has been reported in numerous journals but there is little data to confirm the reports (Jamison 126). The researchers use a controlled experiment that employs four creativity measures yielding six parameters that were compared across different groups. All participants were persons suffering from bipolar disorder type I, II, or not otherwise specified (BP), or major depressive disorder (MDD). Controls were also recruited for the survey and were confirmed to be free of any psychiatric disorders (Santosa et al. 32).

The research design used can be described as a controlled approach as it compared two groups- those suffering from bipolar disorder and those free of the disorder- with the aim of finding out whether there was a difference in creativity between the groups. Since the investigators needed to compare two groups, the controlled approach was necessary. An alternative design to that used in this paper is a comparative design in which pre-designed questions are answered by subjects and a control group. Analysis of the responses given by the two groups would help in answering the research question. The two designs –controlled experiment and comparative research- could also be combined.