Differentiating Bipolar Disorder From Unipolar Depression and ADHD: The Utility of the General Behavior Inventory

Adolescence and early adulthood are the peak ages for the onset of unipolar and bipolar mood disorders. Moreover, for most individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), symptoms and impairment begin in childhood but persist well into adolescence and adulthood (e.g., Barkley, 2010). Thus, adolescence and early adulthood represent a developmental window wherein individuals can be affected by mood disorders, ADHD, or both. Because treatment protocols for unipolar depression (UPD), bipolar disorder (BD), and ADHD are quite different, it is crucial that assessment instruments used among adolescents and young adults differentiate between these disorders. The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate the predictive and diagnostic validity of General Behavior Inventory (GBI; Depue et al., 1981) scores in discriminating BD from UPD and ADHD. Participants were drawn from adolescent (n = 361) and young adult (n = 614) samples. Based on findings from logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristics analyses, the diagnostic efficiency of the GBI scales range from fair (discriminating UPD from BD) to good (discriminating BD participants from nonclinical controls). Multilevel diagnostic likelihood ratios are also provided to facilitate individual decision making.