Considerable controversy exist regarding clinical presentation, diagnosis, and comorbidities specially Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), in paediatric BPD.

To describe phenomenology and comorbidities of paediatric BPD.

To clinically study the Phenomenology and Comorbidity of Pediatric BPD and to clinically study the comorbidity of ADHD in Pediatric BPD.

78 Subjects (6–16 years) attending child and adolescent psychiatry services of C.S.M.M.U. Lucknow, who fulfilled DSM-IV-TR 2000 criteria for BPD were assessed using K-SADS-PL, child mania rating scale (CMRS),child depression rating scale (CDRS) ADHD-RS and C-GAS.

All the subjects were diagnosed as BPD-I. Their mean chronological age was 13.4 ± 2.1 years. the mean age at onset of BPD was 12.2 ± 2.3 years. the most common symptoms found in manic subjects were increased goal directed activities (100%), distractibility (100%), elation (98.7%), grandiosity (90.5%), physical restlessnesss (82.4%), poor judgment (82.4%) and decreased need for sleep (81.1%). 19 (24.5%) cases of BPD had other current comorbid disorders. the commonest comorbidities were MR (10.26%) and ADHD (10.26%), accompanied by Seizure disorders (2.56%), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (6.41%), substance abuse (3.85%), Anxiety Disorders (2.56%), and Enuresis (1.28).

In children and adolescents elation/grandiosity is more common presentation than Irritability. Comorbidities are rare in paediatric BPD-I. Differentiation of comorbid disruptive behaviour disorders especially ADHD from BPD is possible with respect to age of onset, quality of the disturbed mood, and the course of each disorder.