Abstract
Background: Uncertainties remain as to the utility of structured diagnostic methodology to aid in the diagnosis of manic symptomatology in youth. To this end, this study compared structured diagnostic interview based diagnoses of mania in children and adolescents with that of an expert clinician. Methods: We separately and independently assessed 69 youths recruited for a study of mania in childhood, all but 2 of whom experienced mania, with a structured diagnostic interview administered by trained psychometricians and a clinical assessment by a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist (JW) who was blind to the structured interview results. Results: Structured interviews and clinical evaluations converged in all but two cases (67 of 69 or 97% agreement). In one discrepant case, the structured interview diagnosed a full case of mania, but the clinical interview diagnosed cyclothymia/subthreshold mania; in the other discrepant case, the structured interview failed to diagnose mania, but the clinical interview did diagnose mania. Conclusions: In children referred for evaluation of suspected bipolar disorder, a structured interview diagnosis of mania is very likely to be corroborated by a clinical interview.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 938-944 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Biological Psychiatry |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jun 2003 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Bipolar disorder
- Clinical interview
- Pediatric
- Structured interview