http://bipolarchild.com/newsletters/0611.html

The Bipolar Child Newsletter
November, 2006 Vol. 23

The Child Bipolar Questionnaire

Until very recently, newly-proposed diagnostic criteria for juvenile-onset bipolar disorder have been based on information from very small clinical samples, or from expert consensus. Diagnostic rating scales used in clinical studies have all been modified from adult versions that are derived from DSM-IV diagnostic concepts, and focus almost exclusively on symptoms of mania and/or depression.

This focus limits the capacity to encompass a broader view afforded by a dimensional analysis of the primary features of the illness.

In order to avoid imposing such artificial distinctions that carve out symptoms into pre-established diagnostic categories, and to address the fact that psychiatric rating scale instruments do not represent a finer grained dimensional view of the condition, the Child Bipolar Parent Questionnaire (CBQ) was developed.

This is a 65-item questionnaire completed by a parent or parent surrogate that is based upon a Likert Scale. The questionnaire requires a rating for frequency of occurrence for each of the 65 symptoms or behaviors. For instance, a rating of 1 signifies that a symptom or behavior never occurs, or occurs only rarely; a rating of 4 signifies that a symptom or behavior occurs very frequently, or almost constantly. It was developed to serve as a rapid screening inventory of common behavioral symptoms and temperamental features associated with pediatric bipolar disorder.

(To read about the development of the CBQ, or to complete the screening inventory, visit
http://www.jbrf.org/cbq/index.html ).

The ability of CBQ screening diagnoses and of the CBQ Core Index subscale to effectively predict diagnostic classification by structured interview was assessed using the well-validated Kiddie-SADS P/L. The validation study of the CBQ is published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (see bibliography below).