TESTING DEFINITIONS OF DYSPHORIC MANIA AND HYPOMANIA - PREVALENCE, CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND INTER-EPISODE STABILITY

37 outpatients with at least one prospectively observed manic or hypom anic episode comprised a sample for comparison of five definitions of dysphoric (hypo)mania. Dysphoric symptoms were continuously rather tha n bimodally distributed. Prevalence of dysphoria varied from 5 to 73% depending on the definition used. Female gender was associated with dy sphoria under two of the five definitions. Inter-episode stability in patients with at least two prospectively observed episodes (n = 15) wa s not significantly different from chance. These data do not indicate that (hypo)mania can be dichotomized on the basis of dysphoria. Advant ages and disadvantages of dimensional and categorical approaches to sp ecifying mood in mania or hypomania are discussed.