The P-YMRS is attached, in Word format.

The P-YMRS consists of eleven questions that parents are asked about their child's present state. The original rating scale (Young Mania Rating Scale), was developed to assess severity of symptoms in adults hospitalized for mania. It has been revised in an effort to help clinicians such as pediatricians determine when children should be referred for further evaluation by a mental health professional (such as a child psychiatrist), and also to help assess whether a child's symptoms are responding to treatment. The scale is NOT intended to diagnose bipolar disorder in children (that requires a thorough evaluation by an experienced mental health professional, preferably a board-certified child psychiatrist). This version has been tested in a pediatric research clinic with a high number of children with bipolar disorder. The child's total score is determined by adding up the highest number circled on each question. Scores range from 0-60. Extremely high scores on the P-YMRS increase the risk of having bipolar disorder by a factor of 9, roughly the same increase as having a biological parent with bipolar disorder. Low scores decrease the odds by a factor of ten. Scores in the middle don't change the odds much.

Study to examine the usefulness of a parent report version of the Young Mania Rating Scale (P-YMRS) in distinguishing bipolar disorders from other mental health conditions in children and adolescents.

Reliability of the Washington University in St. Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (WASH-U-KSADS) Mania and Rapid Cycling Sections

BARBARA GELLER, M.D., BETSY ZIMERMAN, M.A., MARLENE WILLIAMS, R.N., KRISTINE BOLHOFNER, B.S., JAMES L. CRANEY, M.P.H., MELISSA P. DELBELLO, M.D., AND CESAR SOUTULLO, M.D.

Reprinted with permission from J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, Volume 40, p. 450-455 (2001).

Objective: To investigate the reliability of the Washington University in St. Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (WASH-U-KSADS) mania and rapid cycling sections. Method: The 1986 version of the KSADS was modified and expanded to include onset and offset of each symptom for both current and lifetime episodes, expanded prepubertal mania and rapid cycling sections, and categories for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other DSM-IV diagnoses. To optimize diagnostic research, skip-outs were minimized. Subjects participated in the ongoing “Phenomenology and Course of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder” study. Mothers and children were interviewed separately by research nurses who were blind to diagnostic group status. In addition, ratings of off-site child psychiatrists, made from the narrative documentation given for each WASH-U-KSADS item, were compared with research nurse ratings. This work was performed between 1995 and 2000.