Predominant polarity and temperament in bipolar and unipolar affective disorders

Mazzarini, Lorenzo; Pacchiarotti, Isabella; Colom, Francesc; Sani, Gabriele; Kotzalidis, Giorgio D.; Rosa, Adriane R.; Sanna, Livia; De Rossi, Pietro; Girardi, Nicoletta; Bonnin, C. Mar; Sanchez-Moreno, Jose; Vazquez, Gustavo H.; Gasto, Cristobal; Tatarelli, Roberto; Vieta, Eduard

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2009.03.016

« Previous Next »Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume 119, Issue 1 , Pages 28-33, December 2009

Predominant polarity and temperament in bipolar and unipolar affective disorders

Lorenzo Mazzarini
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Isabella Pacchiarotti
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Francesc Colom
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Gabriele Sani
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Giorgio D. Kotzalidis
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Adriane R. Rosa
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Livia Sanna
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Pietro De Rossi
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Nicoletta Girardi
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
C. Mar Bonnin
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Jose Sanchez-Moreno
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Gustavo H. Vazquez
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cristobal Gasto
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Roberto Tatarelli
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 2nd Medical School, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Eduard Vieta
- Bipolar Disorders Programme, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Corresponding author. Bipolar Disorders Program, Clinical Institute of Neuroscience, University Clinic Hospital of Barcelona, Villarroel 170. 08036-Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34 932275401; fax: +34 932275477.

Received 10 March 2009; received in revised form 20 March 2009; accepted 20 March 2009.

Abstract

Introduction

Recently, the concept of predominant polarity (two-thirds of episodes belonging to a single pole of the illness) has been introduced to further characterise subtypes of bipolar disorders. This concept has been proven to have diagnostic and therapeutic implications, but little is known on the underlying psychopathology and temperaments. With this study, we aimed to further validate the concept and explore its relationships with temperament.

Methods

This study enrolled 143 patients with bipolar or unipolar disorder. We analysed predominant polarity in the sample of bipolar I patients (N=124), focussing on those who showed a clear predominance for one or the other polarity, and distinguishing manic/hypomanic (MP) from depressive polarity (DP), and a unipolar major depression (UP) group (N=19),. We also assessed temperament by means of the Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A).

Results

Over 55% of the bipolar I sample fulfilled predominant polarity criteria, with two-thirds of those meeting criteria for MP and one third for DP. MP and DP were similar in scoring higher than UP on the hyperthymic/cyclothymic scales of the TEMPS-A; the UP group scored higher on the anxious/depressive scales.

Discussion

Our results show that both bipolar I MP and DP subgroups are temperamentally similar and different from UP. Depression in DP bipolar I patients should be viewed as the overlap of depression on a hyperthymic/cyclothymic temperament. These findings confirm the value of the predominant polarity concept as well as the importance of temperaments to separate bipolar from unipolar disorders.

Keywords: Affective disorders, Predominant polarity, Temperament, TEMPS-A