CBCL CLINICAL-SCALES DISCRIMINATE PREPUBERTAL CHILDREN WITH STRUCTURED INTERVIEW-DERIVED DIAGNOSIS OF MANIA FROM THOSE WITH ADHD

Objective: To evaluate the discriminative ability of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to identify children with structured interview-derived diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Method: We evaluated the convergence of CBCL scales with the diagnosis of mania in 31 children with mania, 120 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and 77 prepubertal normal control children aged 12 years or younger. We evaluated the strength of association between each CBCL scale and structured interview-derived diagnoses with total predictive value and the odds ratio. Results: Excellent convergence was found between the CBCL scales of Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive Behavior, Somatic Complaints, Anxious/Depressed, and Thought Problems and the diagnosis of mania. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the CBCL could serve as a rapid and useful screening instrument to identify manic children in clinical settings.