Confirmation that Child Behavior Checklist clinical scales discriminate juvenile mania from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Objective: To determine whether boys meeting diagnostic criteria for juveni le mania and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (mania-ADHD) may be d istinguished from boys with ADHD alone on a range of clinical and family va riables. Methodology: Boys aged 9-13 years with mania-ADHD (n = 25), ADHD alone (n = 99), or no psychiatric diagnosis (n = 27) were compared on parent and teac her report Child Behavior Checklists (CBCL) and Conners Questionnaires, sel f-report CBCLs, patterns of comorbidity, intellectual functioning, and fami ly variables. Results: Mania-ADHD subjects had significantly higher mean ratings than ADH D only subjects on the parent CBCL for the Withdrawn, Thought Problems, Del inquent Behavior and Aggressive Behavior scales and significantly higher ra tes of comorbid depression, anxiety and psychotic symptoms. Other Variables did not distinguish the mania-ADHD and ADHD only groups. Conclusions: These data confirm previous research indicating that the CBCL may be used to assist in the clinical identification of manic children.