title: Screening the risk of bipolar spectrum disorders: Validity evidence of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire in adolescents and young adults.
abstract: The aim of this study was to gather sources of validity evidence of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) in young adults for its use as a screening tool for bipolar spectrum disorders. The sample was composed of 1,002 participants, 268 men (26.7%). The mean age of participants was 21.1 years (SD=3.9). The results showed that between 3 and 59% of the sample reported some hypomanic experience. Gender differences were found in the total score of the MDQ. The analysis of the internal structure by exploratory factor analysis yielded 2 factors, called Energy-Activity and Disinhibition-Attention. This dimensional structure was replicated in the exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), and also had factorial equivalence by gender. Participants who met the cut-off points of the MDQ reported a worse perceived mental health status and more consummatory and anticipatory pleasure, compared to the low scores group. These findings indicate that the MDQ has adequate psychometric properties in non-clinical samples, and could be useful as a screening tool in psychopathology, with the possibility of optimizing strategies for early identification and prevention in individuals at high risk for bipolar disorders. Future studies should further explore the role of subclinical bipolar phenotype and conduct longitudinal studies in samples of the general population.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de La Rioja, Logroño, España; Programa de Prevención en Psicosis (P3), Oviedo, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, España. Electronic address: eduardo.fonseca.pedrero@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonseca-Pedrero
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de La Rioja, Logroño, España.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortuño-Sierra
authors.affiliation: Programa de Prevención en Psicosis (P3), Oviedo, España; Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, España.
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paino
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, España; Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, España.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muñiz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bipolar disorder; Detección precoz; Early detection; Propiedades psicométricas; Psychometric properties; Riesgo; Risk; Trastorno bipolar; Validación; Validation