Neuropsychological profile of children and adolescents with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and bipolar disorder

The aim of this study is to evaluate the neurocognitive functionality of children and adolescent aged 8-18 years diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (BD) and new defined in DSM-5 with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD), using neuropsychological tests. In this study, it is aimed to compare the potential relationship between children and adolescent with Bipolar Disorder and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder with Stroop Test, The Turkish Form of the Cancellation Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Serial Digit Learning Test with neuropsychological tests. The research is planned as an observational case-control study. The sample of the study is consisted of 15 volunteer patients diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and 6 diagnosed with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, who applied to Dokuz Eylül University Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department. In the application, the participants were informed about the study, and they were asked to read and fill the informed consent form. During the interview with the patients, a form containing questions about sociodemographic information and clinical data was filled. Stroop Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Serail Digit Learning Test and The Turkish Form of Cancellation Test were applied to the participants. According to Sociodemographic perspective, the significant difference between the groups Bipolar Disorder and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder was not found statistically in terms of age, gender, closeness to the child, educational status of the parents, and income status of the parents. When neurocognitive test performances were evaluated, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test subtests. It was found statistically significant that patients with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder performed worse than patients with Bipolar in the Regular Shapes, Irregular Letters and Irregular Shapes subtests of he Turkish Form of Cancellation Test. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the comparisons made in terms of the scores of the Serial Digit Learning Test and the Stroop Test. When the findings in our study were evaluated, It was seen that patients with Bipolar Disorder and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder experience significant loss in cognitive functioning levels. This shows that young people with a diagnosis of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder experience serious cognitive difficulties just like those with Bipolar Disorder. The best of our knowledge, our study is the first to compare children with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder and Bipolar Disorder neuropsychologically with the The Turkish Form of Cancellation Test, Stroop Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. When we consider the tests applied in our study; It is recommended to use Serial Digit Learning Test, Stroop Test, The Turkish Form of Cancellation Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. This widespread use may bring more importance to the improvements in this area in the future. Longitudinal studies with a larger sample are needed in order to clearly demonstrate the potential relationship between impairments in mental flexibility, impulsivity and inhibition skills, and Bipolar Disorder and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder and to ensure the reliability of the findings of the current study.