The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the CBCL-bipolar phenotype are not useful in diagnosing pediatric bipolar disorder.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have suggested that the sum of Attention, Aggression, and Anxious/Depressed subscales of Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-PBD; pediatric bipolar disorder phenotype) may be specific to pediatric bipolar disorder (BP). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the CBCL and CBCL-PBD to identify BP in children <12 years old. METHODS: A sample of children with BP I, II, and not otherwise specified (NOS) (n = 157) ascertained through the Course and Outcome for Bipolar Disorder in Youth (COBY) study were compared with a group of children with major depressive/anxiety disorders (MDD/ANX; n = 101), disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) (n = 127), and healthy control (HC) (n = 128). The CBCL T-scores and area under the curve (AUC) scores were calculated and compared among the above-noted groups. RESULTS: Forty one percent of BP children did not have significantly elevated CBCL-PBD scores (>or=2 standard deviations [SD]). The sensitivity and specificity of CBCL-PBD >or= 2 SD for diagnosis of BP was 57% and 70-77%, respectively, and the accuracy of CBCL-PBD for identifying a BP diagnosis was moderate (AUC = 0.72-0.78). CONCLUSION: The CBCL and the CBCL-PBD showed that BP children have more severe psychopathology than HC and children with other psychopathology, but they were not useful as a proxy for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4(th) edition (DSM-IV) diagnosis of BP.

Author information

Author/s: Diler, Rasim Somer (RS); Birmaher, Boris (B); Axelson, David (D); Goldstein, Ben (B); Gill, MaryKay (M); Strober, Michael (M); Kolko, David J (DJ); Goldstein, Tina R (TR); Hunt, Jeffrey (J); Yang, Mei (M); Ryan, Neal D (ND); Iyengar, Satish (S); Dahl, Ronald E (RE); Dorn, Lorah D (LD); Keller, Martin B (MB);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. dilerrs(-atsign-)yahoo.com

Grants: P01 MH041712-110004 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R01 MH057727-06A1 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R01 MH059929-06A2 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology (J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Feb; vol 19 (issue 1) : pp 23-30

Dates: Created 2009/02/23; Completed 2009/04/14; Revised 2009/09/30;

PMID: 19232020, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/1/2009, IMS Date: 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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