Screening for bipolar disorder in adolescents with the Mood Disorder Questionnaire - Adolescent version (MDQ-A) and the Child Bipolar Questionnaire (CBQ)

Aim Screening instruments for bipolar disorders (BDs) in children and adolescents have been developed recently. The present study examined performances of the French versions of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire – Adolescent version (MDQ‐A) and Child Bipolar Questionnaire (CBQ) in a sample of in‐ and outpatients. Methods Seventy‐six adolescents (age 13–18) and parents first completed the MDQ‐A (adolescent and parent versions) and CBQ screening instruments. About 3 weeks later, they had a diagnostic interview with the Kiddie‐Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia – Present and Lifetime (K‐SADS‐PL), and the adolescent MDQ‐A self‐report was completed a second time. Results Eight of 76 patients (10.5%) met K‐SADS‐PL diagnostic criteria for BD. Test–retest reliability of the adolescent MDQ‐A self‐report was moderate (kappa = 0.66), whereas agreement between adolescent and parent reports was poor (kappa = 0.07). Sensitivity and specificity of the MDQ‐A with respect to K‐SADS‐PL were 75.0% and 57.4% for the adolescent version, and 87.5% and 63.2% for the parent version. Corresponding figures were 50.0% and 73.5% for the CBQ. All three screening instruments had low positive predictive values (17.1% for the MDQ‐A adolescent version; 21.9% for the MDQ‐A parent version; 18.2% for the CBQ), whereas negative predictive values were higher than 90%. Conclusions The present study points to modest performances of the MDQ‐A and CBQ to detect BDs in adolescents, with diagnostic criteria for BD being unmet for a majority of patients who screened positive.