Objective: To examine differences between source-specific manic symptoms.

Methods: In total, 104 consecutive adolescent outpatient referrals were evaluated for their psychiatric status using a questionnaire based on the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that was completed by parents, teachers, and youths.

Results: Approximately one third of the youths met symptom criteria for mania by at least one informant; however, only 38% of these met such criteria by at least two informants. Youths who had manic symptoms according to two informants were significantly more symptomatic both on mental status exam and in other dimensions of psychopathology than youths who did not have corroborated manic symptoms. Cross-informant agreement was generally poor when symptoms were scored dimensionally.

Conclusions: Manic symptoms are relatively nonspecific in outpatient samples. Using more than one informant increases the likelihood of selecting subjects with serious and possibly manic disorders.