Recognizing mania in children and adolescents—age does not matter, but decreased need for sleep does

Meyer, Thomas D.; Fuhr, Kristina; Hautzinger, Martin; Schlarb, Angelika A.

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.06.004

« Previous Next »Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 52, Issue 2 , Pages 132-138, March 2011

Recognizing mania in children and adolescents—age does not matter, but decreased need for sleep does

Thomas D. Meyer
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- Department of Clinical and Developmental Psychology, University of Tübingen, Christophstr. 2, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
- Corresponding author. Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Tel.: +44 0 191 222 8967; fax: +44 0 191 222 7520.
Kristina Fuhr
- Department of Clinical and Developmental Psychology, University of Tübingen, Christophstr. 2, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
Martin Hautzinger
- Department of Clinical and Developmental Psychology, University of Tübingen, Christophstr. 2, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
Angelika A. Schlarb
- Department of Clinical and Developmental Psychology, University of Tübingen, Christophstr. 2, 72072 Tübingen, Germany

published online 05 August 2010.

Abstract

Background

The diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorders is a controversial topic. If this is mainly due to a bias against a diagnosis in younger children, then just changing the information about the age of a patient should influence the likelihood of a diagnosis despite otherwise identical symptoms. Therefore, we designed a study to test if the age of a patient will influence diagnostic decisions. We further attempted to replicate an earlier result with regard to “decreased need for sleep” as a salient symptom for mania.

Methods

We randomly sent 1 of 4 case vignettes describing a person with current mania to child/adolescents psychiatrists in Germany. This vignette was systematically varied with respect to age of the patient (6 vs 16 years) and the presence/absence of decreased need for sleep but always included sufficient criteria to diagnose a mania.

Results

One hundred sixteen responded and, overall, 63.8% of the respondents diagnosed a bipolar disorder in the person described in the vignette. Although age did not affect the likelihood of a bipolar diagnosis, the presence of decreased need for sleep did increase its likelihood. Furthermore, the number of core symptoms identified by the clinicians was closely linked to the likelihood of assigning a bipolar diagnosis.

Conclusion

Certain symptoms such as the decreased need for sleep, and also elated mood and grandiosity, seem to be salient for some clinicians and influence their diagnoses. Biological age of the patient, however, does not seem to cause a systematic bias against a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children.