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Title: Divalproex Sodium Shows Promise for Reducing Aggression in Bipolar Offspring: Presented at AACAP

"Divalproex Sodium Shows Promise for Reducing Aggression in Bipolar Offspring: Presented at AACAP"

By Jerry Ingram MIAMI BEACH, FL -- October 19, 2003 -- Divalproex Sodium (DVPX) appears to offer some help in decreasing aggressive behavior in bipolar offspring, according to a preliminary study presented here on October 17th at the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "For clinicians it's an important question of how to address and manage aggression in these children. More times than not, medications are used for that. What we want to do is systematically address first of all the issue of the aggressive behavior and then, more systematically, which medication could be appropriately used. We want to optimally use the medications -- not have children on several different medications. That's where we're going with this," said Kirti Saxena, MD, lead researcher, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California. For this study of the effects of divalproex sodium, investigators conducted a 12-week open label trial, which included 24 bipolar offspring ranging in age from 6 to 18 years. The youngsters had mixed diagnoses of major depression, cyclothymia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. To assess aggression, researchers used the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS) in 4-week intervals. They found that 71% of the children who were evaluated were considered "responders to divalproex treatment". Mean OAS scores decreased in the 12-week period (P=0.005) along with verbal aggression (P=0.0039), assault (P=0.001), irritability (P=0.008) and overall aggression (P=0.006). There was a significant correlation between the Young Mania Rating Scale and OAS scores at Week 0 (P=0.036) and Week 12 (P=0.025), researchers stated. Although Dr. Saxena concluded that the bipolar offspring did experience a decrease in aggression following treatment with divalproex, she pointed out that this is only an initial finding and the first report of treatment efficacy of a mood stabilizer for aggression in this particular cohort. [Study title: Divalproex Sodium Reduces Aggression in Bipolar Offspring with Psychopathology. Abstract D30]

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