Abstract
BackgroundIrritable mood has recently become a matter of intense scientific interest. Here, we present data from two samples, one from the United States and the other from the United Kingdom, demonstrating the clinical and research utility of the parent- and self-report forms of the Affective Reactivity Index (ARI), a concise dimensional measure of irritability.MethodsThe US sample (n = 218) consisted of children and adolescents recruited at the National Institute of Mental Health meeting criteria for bipolar disorder (BD, n = 39), severe mood dysregulation (SMD, n = 67), children at family risk for BD (n = 35), or were healthy volunteers (n = 77). The UK sample (n = 88) was comprised of children from a generic mental health setting and healthy volunteers from primary and secondary schools.ResultsParent- and self-report scales of the ARI showed excellent internal consistencies and formed a single factor in the two samples. In the US sample, the ARI showed a gradation with irritability significantly increasing from healthy volunteers through to SMD. Irritability was significantly higher in SMD than in BD by parent-report, but this did not reach significance by self-report. In the UK sample, parent-rated irritability was differentially related to emotional problems.ConclusionsIrritability can be measured using a concise instrument both in a highly specialized US, as well as a general UK child mental health setting.
Highlights
Irritable mood has become a focus of intense scientific interest (Leibenluft, 2011; Stringaris, 2011)
While irritability is listed as a symptom for multiple diagnoses, the term is not defined in the DSM-IV (APA, 2000), and there is no consensus definition in the literature
Total Affective Reactivity Index (ARI) scores by parentand self-report were higher for the US sample than for the UK sample
Summary
Irritable mood has become a focus of intense scientific interest (Leibenluft, 2011; Stringaris, 2011). Despite the intense interest of the DSM-5 taskforce in irritability, defined both dimensionally and categorically (APA, 2011a,b), research on the measurement of irritability has been limited. This is unfortunate, given the importance ascribed to studying the dimensional structure of psychopathology and its neurobiological underpinnings (Insel et al, 2010). We present data from two samples, one from the United States and the other from the United Kingdom, demonstrating the clinical and research utility of the parent- and self-report forms of the Affective Reactivity Index (ARI), a concise dimensional measure of irritability. In the US sample, the ARI showed a gradation with irritability significantly increasing from healthy volunteers through to SMD.
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