Higher positivity ratings for current self-images were associated with lower depression and anxiety scores among young adults with Bipolar Spectrum Disorder (BPSD), suggesting that BPSD phenotype can shape the relationship between affect and current and future self-images.
As reported in the Journal of Affective Disorders, lead author Dr. Martina Di Simplicio of MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, England, and her associates assessed a nonclinical sample of 47 participants (66% female; mean age, 23) for hypomanic experiences and BPSD vulnerability, split into two groups based on their Mood Disorders Questionnaire (MDQ) score. Seventy-five percent of the participants in the high MDQ group generated at least one negative current self-image, compared with 48% of participants in the low MDQ group (P = .055).
The investigators noted that, for those with high MDQ scores, the relationship between affect and perception of the stability of negative self-images is different compared with those with low MDQ scores. And while 75% participants in the BPSD phenotype group were likely to endorse negative images of the current self (compared with less than 50% of the group without hypomanic experiences, almost none of the patients from either group had negative images of the future self).
“BPSD phenotype presents with both alterations and resilience in how self-images and mood shape each other. Further investigations could elucidate how this relationship is affected by illness progression and offer targets for early interventions based on experimental cognitive models,” the investigators wrote.
Read the article in Journal of Affective Disorders (doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.08.042).