Toronto, ON

Screening Tool: Bipolar Disorder in Children/Youth

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This survey is a screening tool designed to detect children/youth who may possibly have symptoms of mania/hypomania. It is NOT a diagnostic scale, i.e. it is not designed to be able to diagnose bipolar disorder. Diagnosing bipolar disorder requires a thorough evaluation by an experienced mental health professional.

This scale is the Parent Young Mania Scale (P-YMRS) and is meant to be filled out by parents. Special thanks to Dr’s Barbara Gracious and Eric Young for permission to use this scale.

Instructions to Parent

Please read each question below and circle the answer which best describes your child:

Mood - Is your child's mood higher (better) than usual?

	No
	Mildly or possibly increased
	Definite elevation- more optimistic, self-confident; cheerful; appropriate to their conversation
	Elevated but inappropriate to content; joking, mildly silly
	Euphoric; inappropriate laughter; singing/making noises; very silly

Motor Activity/Energy - Does your child's energy level or motor activity appear to be greater than usual?

	No
	Mildly or possibly increased
	More animated; increased gesturing
	Energy is excessive; hyperactive at times; restless but can be calmed
	Very excited; continuous hyperactivity; cannot be calmed

Sexual Interest - Is your child showing more than usual interest in sexual matters?

	No
	Mildly or possibly increased
	Definite increase when the topic arises
	Talks spontaneously about sexual matters; gives more detail than usual; more interested in girls/boys than usual
	Has shown open sexual behavior- touching others or self inappropriately

Sleep - Has your child's sleep decreased lately?

	No
	Sleeping less than normal amount by up to one hour
	Sleeping less than normal amount by more than one hour
	Need for sleep appears decreased; less than four hours
	Denies need for sleep; has stayed up one night or more

Irritability - Has your child appeared irritable?

	No more than usual
	More grouchy or crabby
	Irritable several times throughout the day; recent episodes of anger with family, at school, or with friends
	Frequently irritable to the point of being rude or withdrawn
	Hostile and uncooperative about all the time

Speech (rate and amount) - Is your child talking more quickly or more than usual?

	No change
	Seems more talkative
	Talking faster or more to say at times
	Talking more or faster to point he/she is difficult to interrupt
	Continuous speech; unable to interrupt

Thoughts - Has your child shown changes in his/her thought patterns?

	No
	Thinking faster; some decrease in concentration; talking "around the issue"
	Distractible; loses track of the point; changes topics frequently; thoughts racing
	Difficult to follow; goes from one idea to the next; topics do not relate; makes rhymes or repeats words
	Not understandable; he/she doesn't seem to make any sense

Content - Is your child talking about different things than usual?

	No
	He/she has new interests and is making more plans
	Making special projects; more religious or interested in God
	Thinks more of him/herself; believes he/she has special powers; believes he/she is receiving special messages
	Is hearing unreal noises/voices; detects odors no one else smells; feels unusual sensations; has unreal beliefs

Disruptive-Aggressive Behavior - Has your child been more disruptive or aggressive?

	No; he/she is cooperative
	Sarcastic; loud; defensive
	More demanding; making threats
	Has threatened a family member or teacher; shouting; knocking over possessions/ furniture or hitting a wall
	Has attacked family member, teacher, or peer; destroyed property; cannot be spoken to without violence

10.

Appearance - Has your child's interest in his/her appearance changed recently?

	No
	A little less or more interest in grooming than usual
	Doesn't care about washing or changing clothes, or is changing clothes more than three time a day
	Very messy; needs to be supervised to finish dressing; applying makeup in overly done or poor fashion
	Refuses to dress appropriately; wearing bizarre styles

11.

Insight - Does your child think he/she needs help at this time?

	Yes; admits difficulties and wants treatment
	Believes there might be something wrong
	Admits to change in behavior but denies he/she needs help
	Admits behavior might have changed but denies need for help
	Denies there have been any changes in his/her behavior/thinking

References

Discriminative Validity of a Parent Version of the Young Mania Rating Scale. (Gracious, Barbara L, Youngstrom Eric A, Findling, Robert L, and Calabrese Joseph R et al). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2002) 41(11): 1350-1359.

Marchand W et al.: Validity of the Parent Young Mania Scale in a Community Mental Health Setting, Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2005 Mar; 2(3): 31-35.