A brief screening tool for a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype

Although there has recently been increased interest in child mania, there is as yet no brief screening tool that separates a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most relevant differential diagnosis.

Parents of 268 consecutively ascertained subjects (93 with a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype, 81 with ADHD, 94 in a healthy comparison group) completed the 10-item Conners' Abbreviated Parent Questionnaire, before separate Washington University in St. Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interviews of parents and children. Data from the Conners' Abbreviated Parent Questionnaire were analyzed by using receiver operating characteristic methods.

A screening algorithm that yielded a sensitivity of 0.73 and a specificity of 0.86 was developed from the Conners' Abbreviated Parent Questionnaire.

The Conners' Abbreviated Parent Questionnaire is a promising tool as a screen for a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype and has similar sensitivity and specificity to screening tools for adult bipolar disorder.