Young referred boys with DICA-P manic symptoms vs. two comparison groups

A total of 23 boys met DICA-P manic symptom and clustering criteria in a di agnostic investigation of 233 outpatient boys between ages 6 and 10. In thi s manic-symptom group, the most frequently endorsed of an average of five m anic symptoms were extreme mood changes, difficulty concentrating, feeling too 'up' to sit still, and racing thoughts. Comparison groups were 23 non-m anic boys seen next in the investigation and 23 non-manic boys matched to t he manic-symptom boys on symptoms of three comorbid disruptive disorders (A DHD, ODD and CD). Manic-symptom boys differed significantly from next-seen boys, but not from matched comorbid boys, in number of oppositional symptom s and pervasiveness of problems. Manic-symptom boys differed significantly from next-seen boys on six of eight mother-rated RCBCL factors. In contrast , manic-symptom and matched comorbid boys did not differ on any of eight RC BCL factors, which suggests that the RCBCL differences can be attributed to shared ADHD, ODD and/or CD. However, manic-symptom and matched comorbid bo ys tended to differ on RCBCL Anxiety/Depression. On the teacher-rated TRF, manic-symptom boys were rated higher than next-seen boys on four internaliz ing factors, and higher than matched comorbid boys on two of those factors, including Anxiety/Depression. Thus, manic symptomatology also predicted su bstantial emotionality, which was not a controlled comorbidity. The finding s of this and other studies suggest that there is a mania dimension or synd rome, which may be an indicator of true bipolar disorder-or simply a marker for disruptive comorbidity, behavioral and emotional multimorbidity, or ge neral severity of psychopathology. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.