A Head-to-Head Comparison of Risperidone and Divalproex for Treatment of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder

• Authors: Joseph F Cubells, Emory University
• Journal Title: Current Psychiatry Reports
• Volume: Volume 13, Number 2
• Publisher: Current Medicine Group | 2011-04, Pages 82-83
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-011-0182-6
• Subjects: Psychology, General; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

There are distressingly few well-controlled clinical trials of psychopharmacologic interventions for childhood psychiatric disorders. Pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD), while the subject of some nosologic controversy, is in its “pure” form a devastating relapsing/remitting disorder that can be very difficult to treat. This National Institutes of Health–supported trial (medication and placebo capsules supplied without cost by the respective manufacturers of risperidone and divalproex) is a welcome addition to the literature, as it compares two of the most commonly recommended medications for mania in PBD, neither of which has a substantial evidence base supporting its use for that indication.