Prevalence of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder and its Correlates

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) is a new diagnostic category included in the DSM-5 for children. The present study is an attempt to determine the prevalence of DMDD and its clinical correlates in the province of Ardebil. The sample comprised all children presenting with irritability as one of the symptoms at all state governed psychiatric clinics in the province during the year 2015. A total of 18 children (77.78% boys, 22.22% girls) aged 6 to 10 years were identified out of a total of 402 referrals for complaints including, autism, inattention, hyperactivity, learning problems, temper tantrums, academic problems, communication problems, anxiety and sleep disturbances diagnosed by psychiatrists using unstructured clinical interviews. These 18 children were reported to display temper tantrums (83.33%), disruptive behavior (61.11%), angry behavior (100%), or irritability (88.89%). All 18 children were again evaluated by two psychiatrists for the presence of DMDD using DSM-5 criteria and comorbid behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist. DMDD was confirmed in 16 of the 18 children, reflecting a prevalence of 4.47%. Furthermore, social problems, rule breaking behavior and aggressive behavior were reported in 75%, 68.75 and 93.75% of these children. These findings indicate the need for more sensitive measures to identify DMDD as distinguished from externalizing problems in children.

Keywords:

disruptive mood dysregulation disorder , irritability , aggression , children