If teens who are at risk for developing psychosis can be identified and treated before the onset of a full-blown illness, they have a chance to bypass years of disability. Understanding how genetic defects can lead to the symptoms of psychotic disorders may someday allow doctors to give at-risk teens an even better chance at ongoing health than they have today.

The Department of Psychiatry’s Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is conducting studies in genetics, brain structure, and biochemistry to search for early biological markers of bipolar disorder. These markers are physiological changes or traits that provide evidence of the illness that can be detected even before symptoms appear in at-risk children. Early intervention can greatly reduce the symptoms that occur, and it can head off other disorders, such as substance abuse, that often develop in untreated individuals. The UIC researchers are examining medication and gene therapy as preventive treatments for children who are at risk for developing the illness.

Summary of Suicide Prevention Tips by Barbara Geller, M.D.

A family-based prevention program designed to help adolescents avoid substance use and other risky behavior proved especially effective for a group of young teens with a genetic risk factor contributing toward such behavior, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), components of the National Institutes of Health, supported the study, which appears in the May/June issue of Child Development.