Response styles to depressed mood in bipolar affective disorder.

BACKGROUND

It has been hypothesised that dysfunctional strategies for avoiding depression play an important role in the pathway to mania. Support for this hypothesis comes from studies demonstrating that remitted and manic bipolar patients show similar cognitive biases to currently depressed patients.

METHOD: Manic patients, depressed bipolar patients, remitted bipolar patients and healthy controls were compared on an expanded version of Nolen-Hoeksema's [Nolen-Hoeksema, S., 1991. Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressed mood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 569-582.] Response Styles Questionnaire, measuring strategies for coping with depression.

RESULTS

Manic patients reported greater use of active-coping and risk-taking compared to the depressed, remitted and healthy controls. Bipolar remitted patients reported greater rumination.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that mania is associated with dysfunctional strategies for regulating negative emotion.