Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Scale - Abbreviated Screen for Patients: Description and validation

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Early identification of bipolar disorder (BD) is hindered by the lack of standardized prodromal symptom assessment methods.
• The prodromal phase of BD is critical for timely intervention, yet remains under-characterized due to assessment limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Scale-Abbreviated Screen for Patients (BPSS-AS-P) as a brief, self-report screening tool.
• To assess the BPSS-AS-P's reliability and validity in identifying individuals at risk for BD.

Main Methods:

• The study involved 134 participants (aged 12-18) with mood or psychosis-spectrum disorders.
• Participants completed the BPSS-AS-P prior to a clinician-administered interview using the Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Interview and Scale-Full Prospective (BPSS-FP).
• BPSS-AS-P scores were calculated by summing severity and frequency ratings.

Main Results:

• The BPSS-AS-P demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.94).
• Scores showed significant correlations with the BPSS-FP Mania Symptom Index (r=0.55), General Behavior Inventory-10M (r=0.65), and Young Mania Rating Scale (r=0.48), indicating good convergent validity.
• The scale exhibited good discriminant validity, with no significant correlations with measures of psychotic disorder symptoms.

Conclusions:

• The BPSS-AS-P is a promising, reliable, and valid self-report screening tool for individuals at risk for BD.
• Widespread adoption of the BPSS-AS-P can facilitate systematic characterization of the BD prodrome, advancing research and clinical care.
• Future research should explore the predictive validity of the BPSS-AS-P in community samples.