Trait impulsivity in patients with mood disorders.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: Impulsivity is a key component of the manic behavior of bipolar disorder and is reported to occur in bipolar patients as a stable characteristic, i.e. a trait. Nevertheless, impulsivity has not been widely studied in depressed bipolar patients. We assessed impulsivity in depressed and euthymic bipolar and unipolar patients and healthy controls. We hypothesized that bipolar subjects would have higher levels of trait impulsivity than the comparison groups. METHODS: Twenty-four depressed bipolar, 24 depressed unipolar, 12 euthymic bipolar, and 10 euthymic unipolar patients, as well as 51 healthy subjects were evaluated with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). Analysis of covariance with age and sex as covariates was used to compare mean group differences. RESULTS: Depressed bipolar, euthymic bipolar, and depressed unipolar patients did not differ, and showed greater impulsivity than healthy controls on all of the BIS scales. Euthymic unipolar patients scored higher than healthy controls only on motor impulsivity. LIMITATIONS: Higher number of past substance abusers in the bipolar groups, and no control for anxiety and personality disorders, as well as small sample sizes, limit the reach of this study. CONCLUSIONS: This study replicates prior findings of stable trait impulsivity in bipolar disorder patients, and extends them, confirming that this trait can be demonstrated in depressed patients, as well as manic and euthymic ones. Trait impulsivity may be the result of repeated mood episodes or be present prior to their onset, either way it would influence the clinical presentation of bipolar disorder.

Author information

Author/s: Peluso, M A M (MA); Hatch, J P (JP); Glahn, D C (DC); Monkul, E S (ES); Sanches, M (M); Najt, P (P); Bowden, C L (CL); Barratt, E S (ES); Soares, J C (JC);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA. mampeluso(-atsign-)hotmail.com

Grants: M01-RR-01346 (Agency:NCRR NIH HHS) ; MH01736 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; MH068662 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of affective disorders (J Affect Disord), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jun; vol 100 (issue 1-3) : pp 227-31

Dates: Created 2007/06/04; Completed 2007/08/23; Revised 2009/09/28;

PMID: 17097740, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/28/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.