Double-blind randomized trial of risperidone versus divalproex in pediatric bipolar disorder

Pavuluri MN, Henry DB, Findling RL, Parnes S, Carbray JA, Mohammed T, Janicak PG, Sweeney JA. Double‐blind randomized trial of risperidone versus divalproex in pediatric bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord 2010: 12: 593–605. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Objective: To determine the relative effects of risperidone and divalproex in pediatric mania. Methods: This is a double‐blind, randomized, outpatient clinical trial with 66 children and adolescents (mean age = 10.9 ± 3.3 years; age range = 8–18 years) with mania who were randomly assigned to either risperidone (0.5–2 mg/day, n = 33) or divalproex (60–120 μg/mL, n = 33) for a six‐week period. Measures included the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Child Depression Rating Scale‐Revised (CDRS‐R). Results: Mixed‐effects regression models, with interaction between time and the active drug as predictors, found that the risperidone group had more rapid improvement than the divalproex group (p