Cognitive processes and attitudes in bipolar disorder: A study into personality, dysfunctional attitudes and attention bias in patients with bipolar disorder and their relatives

Background: Research in cognitive processes and attitudes in bipolar disorder is scarce and has provided mixed findings, possibly due to differences in current mood state. It is unclear whether alterations in cognitive processes and attitudes are only related to the depressive mood states of bipolar patients or also represent a vulnerability marker for the development of future (depressive) episodes. This was investigated in the current study. Methods: Both implicit (attentional bias for emotional words) and explicit (dysfunctional attitudes and personality characteristics) measures of cognitive processes and attitudes were assessed in 77 bipolar patients with varying levels of depressive symptoms (depressed=17, euthymic n=60), their healthy first-degree relatives (n=39) and a healthy control group (n=61). Analyses of variance were used to investigate differences between groups. Results: Mildly depressed patients with bipolar disorder demonstrated an attentional bias away from positive emotional words and showed increased dysfunctional attitudes and higher levels of neuroticism. Euthymic patients were largely comparable to healthy controls and only differed from controls in higher levels of neuroticism. Relatives were similar to controls on all measures, although they significantly differed from bipolar patients in displaying less neuroticism and more extraversion. Limitations: No firm conclusions regarding causality can be drawn from the associations that were found between cognitive processes and attitudes and the evolution of mood symptoms in bipolar disorder. Conclusion: Alterations in cognitive processes and attitudes in bipolar patients appear to be mostly related to the expression of mood symptomatology rather than to the vulnerability for bipolar disorder. © 2012 Elsevier B.V