Mood Disorder Measures
Below are tools to help clinicians assess hypo/manic symptoms, mixed mood symptoms, and overall patterns of bipolar mood cycling . Click the links to view printable PDFs of each measure, including scoring instructions.
Please note that a positive screen on any of these measures is not sufficient to demonstrate a diagnosis of a bipolar disorder. A positive screen should be followed up by a thorough diagnostic evaluation by a trained professional.
AREDOC* Mood Rating Scale - assesses past hypomanic and manic symptoms. Additionally, one item assesses impairment (with little or none expected for hypomania), and one item assesses episode duration. Clients rate 20 items on a scale from 0 (not at all true) to 2 (very true) as they apply to a past time when they felt “high” or “hyper.”
*AREDOC is an international task force responsible for the Assessment, Revision and Evaluation of DSM and other Operational Criteria for bipolar disorders.
Hypomanic Checklist 32 (HCL-32) - assesses past hypomanic and manic symptoms, as well as current mood state, general temperament, typical course of hypo/manic periods (duration, past 12-month frequency), and impact on social and vocational functioning. Clients check “yes” or “no” for 32 items, to indicate whether the symptom was present or absent during a past “high” period.
Mixed Mood Symptom Examples - provides descriptions of how 10 bipolar symptoms are typically experienced during a mixed mood episode. This is not a measure, however it can be a helpful tool in screening for mixed mood episodes. The clinician can become familiar with these items in order to better recognize them in clients’ self-descriptions, and the items can also be shared with clients to allow them to identify symptoms that describe their current or past experiences.
Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS) - assesses the overall likelihood of a bipolar disorder diagnosis. Clients read a 19-sentence passage that describes typical symptoms and changes that occur over the course of a bipolar mood episode cycle (from depression to hypo/mania). They provide an overall rating of how well the narrative fits their life, and check the box next to each sentence that matches their experience.
Bipolarity Index (interview measure) - assesses the overall likelihood of a bipolar disorder diagnosis. The clinician first reviews all the items and response options on the measure, and uses these to conduct a semi-structured interview to gather the necessary information about each domain. For each domain, the clinician circles all items that apply to the client. Then, the clinician scores that domain by choosing the highest number associated with one of the circled items (not by summing the numbers). The domain scores can then be added together to produce the total score.
Rapid Mood Screener (RMS) - A brief, 6-item questionnaire that assesses overall likelihood of bipolar, including items for episode recurrence, age of onset, response to antidepressants, and past hypomania Clients check “yes” or “no” for 6 items, and a clinical cutoff of 4 “yes” responses is suggested.