The use of the GBI in a population of adolescent offspring of parents with a bipolar disorder

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties and the usefulness of the General Behavior Inventory (GBI) in the adolescent age range. Method: The GBI, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children, Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) were used to assess 117 adolescents of a bipolar parent twice with an interval of 14 months. Based on the K-SADS results, the bipolar offspring were assigned to one of three groups: with mood disorders, with non-mood disorders, and with no disorders. Results: Principal component analyses resulted in the same two-factor solution as reported for adults. The Depression scale of the GBI discriminated between adolescents with a DSM-IV mood disorder, a non-mood disorder and no disorder on Axis I. Significant correlations between GBI scales and the corresponding Internalizing and Externalizing scales of the YSR showed convergent validity. Conclusions: The GBI can be used in the adolescent age range as a self-report to discriminate mood disorders from non-mood disorders or no disorders.