Categorical vs. Dimensional: Which is the Better Diagnostic Approach in Children?

Can neurobiological measures be linked to quantifiable dimensions (mania, depression, anxiety, and manic and affective behavioral features) of childhood disorders associated with behavioral and emotional dysregulation? In a multicenter study, researchers tried to answer this question by assessing brain activity in systems mediating the awareness of and response to reward. The participants — 85 pediatric patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, or disruptive behavior disorders (conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) and 20 healthy controls (mean age, 14) — underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing number-guessing tasks that resulted in wins, losses, or n…