Life events and early and late onset of bipolar disorder

Abstract

Forty-six subjects with bipolar disorder and their relatives and friends were interviewed in depth about life events preceding the first and the latest episode of the subject's affective illness. Twenty years of age was the cutting point for dividing the sample into early- and late-onset groups. The late-onset group reported the occurrence of significantly more stressful life events before the first and before the latest episode of affective illness than the early-onset group did.