Maximal Sensitivity to Child Maltreatment at the Ages of 6 and 11 Years is Associated with the Risk of Bipolar Disorder.

This study investigates the patterns and timing of childhood maltreatment (CM) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) compared to healthy controls (HCs), using the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale to assess type, frequency, and chronology of abuse. Findings indicate that BD patients experience greater multiplicity, severity, and duration of CM, particularly emotional maltreatment types such as nonverbal emotional abuse, witnessing interparental violence, and emotional neglect. Two sensitive periods of CM exposure were identified at ages 6 and 11, with maltreatment during these windows strongly associated with BD diagnosis and poorer adult psychosocial functioning. The study highlights the importance of considering both the type and timing of childhood adversity in understanding BD risk, while noting limitations including retrospective self-reporting, sample homogeneity (European-Caucasian), and lack of diversity variables in predictive models.