scholarly journals Validity and Usage of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) in a French Population of Patients with Depression, Bipolar Disorders and Controls

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1897
Author(s):  
Eve Reynaud ◽  
Fabrice Berna ◽  
Emmanuel Haffen ◽  
Luisa Weiner ◽  
Julia Maruani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Bipolar Disorders ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Seasonal Effects ◽  
Food Factor ◽  
Assessment Questionnaire

The Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), by Rosenthal et al. (1984), is by far the most used questionnaire to evaluate seasonal effects on mood and behavior. It includes a general seasonality score (GSS), composed of 6 items, from which cutoffs have been established to screen for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). However, it has never been validated in French and associations with circadian rhythm and symptoms of depression and bipolarity remain unclear. In this study, including 165 subjects (95 controls and 70 patients with depression or bipolar disorder), we confirmed the validity of the French version of the SPAQ, with a two-factor structure (a psychological factor: energy, mood, social activity and sleep length; and a food factor: weight and appetite) and a good fit was observed by all indicators. Mood and social activity dimensions were significantly affected by seasons in the depressed/bipolar group and a stronger global seasonality score (GSS) was associated with more severe phenotypes of depression and mania. Subjects meeting SAD and subsyndromal-SAD criteria also showed a delayed circadian rhythm compared to controls. Simple tools, such as the SPAQ, can aid the identification of significant seasonal changes and have direct implications on therapeutics including the use of bright light therapy in order to enhance personalized treatments, but also to prevent adverse seasonal effects.

scholarly journals Seasonal Affective Disorder: An Overview of Assessment and Treatment Approaches

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherri Melrose
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
Typical Treatment ◽  
Recurrent Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Assessment Questionnaire

Seasonal affective disorder or SAD is a recurrent major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern usually beginning in fall and continuing into winter months. A subsyndromal type of SAD, or S-SAD, is commonly known as “winter blues.” Less often, SAD causes depression in the spring or early summer. Symptoms center on sad mood and low energy. Those most at risk are female, are younger, live far from the equator, and have family histories of depression, bipolar disorder, or SAD. Screening instruments include the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Typical treatment includes antidepressant medications, light therapy, Vitamin D, and counselling. This paper provides an overview of SAD.

Will light brighten the future of the depressed patient?

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.H. Van Den Hoofdakker ◽  
M.C.M. Gordijn
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Treatment ◽  
Psychosocial Variable ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Treatment Experiment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Therapeutic Possibilities

The present explosive growth of interest in the therapeutic possibilities of exposure to light was triggered by a patient, Herbert Kern. He suffered from episodic depressive and manic complaints and discovered, by registering these over the years, a seasonal pattern in their occurrence. Discussions with scientists of the NIMH resulted in his participation in a bright light-treatment experiment when he was depressed in the winter of 1980-1981. He recovered.Next, the same group of investigators defined the criteria for a new syndrome, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): a history of major affective disorder (according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria), at least two consecutive years in which the depressions have occurred during fall or winter and remitted in the following spring or summer, and the absence of any clear-cut seasonally changing psychosocial variable, such as work, stress and so on.

scholarly journals Seasonal affective disorder among general practice attenders

2002 ◽  
Vol 180 (5) ◽  
pp. 394-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Kendrick
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
American Psychiatric Association ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Primary Health Care Services ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Assessment Questionnaire

In this issue, Eagles et al report that people suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) are heavy users of primary health care services (Eagles et al, 2002, this issue). Nearly 10% of patients attending practices in Aberdeen screened positive for SAD using the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ; Rosenthal et al, 1987), among whom around half of those attending for interview fulfilled DSM–IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for recurrent major depression with seasonal pattern. The patients with SAD had consulted significantly more frequently over a 5-year period, with a variety of symptoms both related and unrelated to SAD, and had received significantly more prescriptions, investigations and referrals than patients found not to fulfil the criteria for SAD.

Melatonine en stemmingsstoornissen

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 75-79
Author(s):  
J. Beullens
Keyword(s):  
Pineal Gland ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Premenstrual Syndrome ◽  
Affective Disorders ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Melatonin Level ◽  
Melatonin Secretion ◽  
The Relationship

SummaryMelatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland mainly during the night. The discovery that this melatonin secretion decreases under the influence of bright light, gave rise to the use of light therapy in some affective disorders. The literature on the relationship between melatonin secretion and mood is reviewed concerning seasonal affective disorder, non-seasonal affective disorder and premenstrual syndrome. Light therapy could reduce an abnormal high melatonin secretion back to normal proportions. None of the affective disorders, however, is accompanied by an unusual high melatonin level. Nevertheless, light therapy as well as other therapies that suppress melatonin have a therapeutic effect. This is not the case with the administration of melatonin. Mood is not affected by extra melatonin in seasonal affective disorder but it is in both other affective disorders. Melatonin plays a part in the pathogenesis of the affective disorders but it is not yet clear which one.

The Diagnosis, Symptomatology, and Epidemiology of Seasonal Affective Disorder

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 625-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Magnusson ◽  
Timo Partonen
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Emotional Symptoms ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Operational Criteria

AbstractThe operational criteria for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) have undergone several changes since first proposed in 1984. SAD is currently included as a specifier of either bipolar or recurrent major depressive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition has provisional diagnostic criteria for SAD. The most characteristic quality of SAD is that the symptoms usually present during winter and remit in the spring. Furthermore, the symptoms tend to remit when the patients are exposed to daylight or bright light therapy. The cognitive and emotional symptoms are as in other types of depression but the vegetative symptoms are the reverse of classic depressive vegetative symptoms, namely increased sleep and increased appetite. SAD is a common condition, but the exact prevalence rates vary between different studies and countries and is consistently found to be more common in women and in youth. SAD probably possibly occurs in children although not as commonly as in young adults. Some studies have found that certain ethnic groups who live at high northern latitudes may have adapted to the long arctic winter.

P.1.172 Bright light therapy in seasonal affective disorder — does it suffice?

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. S247-S248
Author(s):  
E. Pjrek ◽  
D. Winkler ◽  
A. Konstantinidis ◽  
N. Thierry ◽  
A. Heiden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Bright Light Therapy

Light Therapy for Seasonal and Nonseasonal Depression: Efficacy, Protocol, Safety, and Side Effects

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 647-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Terman ◽  
Jiuan Su Terman
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Treatment Time ◽  
Antidepressant Medication ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Bright Light Therapy ◽  
Residual Symptoms ◽  
Nonseasonal Depression ◽  
Individual Adjustment

AbstractBright light therapy for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been investigated and applied for over 20 years. Physicians and clinicians are increasingly confident that bright light therapy is a potent, specifically active, nonpharmaceutical treatment modality. Indeed, the domain of light treatment is moving beyond SAD, to nonseasonal depression (unipolar and bipolar), seasonal flare-ups of bulimia nervosa, circadian sleep phase disorders, and more. Light therapy is simple to deliver to outpatients and inpatients alike, although the optimum dosing of light and treatment time of day requires individual adjustment. The side-effect profile is favorable in comparison with medications, although the clinician must remain vigilant about emergent hypomania and autonomic hyperactivation, especially during the first few days of treatment. Importantly, light therapy provides a compatible adjunct to antidepressant medication, which can result in accelerated improvement and fewer residual symptoms.

Effects of rapid tryptophan depletion in patients with seasonal affective disorder in natural summer remission

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. LAM ◽  
T. A. BOWERING ◽  
E. M. TAM ◽  
A. GREWAL ◽  
L. N. YATHAM ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Brain Serotonin ◽  
Tryptophan Depletion ◽  
Control Session ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Plasma Tryptophan

Background. Serotonergic mechanisms have been proposed for the pathophysiology of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and the therapeutic effect of bright-light treatment. Previously, we showed that SAD patients, in clinical remission with light therapy during the winter, experienced transient depressive relapses after a rapid tryptophan depletion (RTD) technique, which results in decreased brain serotonin levels. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of RTD in SAD patients who were in natural summer remission.Methods. Twelve drug-free patients with SAD by DSM-IV criteria and 10 normal subjects participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. SAD patients were in natural summer remission for at least 8 weeks. Behavioural ratings and plasma tryptophan levels were obtained before, and 5 h after, ingesting an amino acid (AA) mixture±tryptophan. Experimental RTD and control sessions were scheduled 1 week apart.Results. The RTD session resulted in significant reduction in total and free plasma tryptophan levels compared to the control session. The behavioural data were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance. This analysis found significant main effects of time (higher scores after AA ingestion) and diagnosis (higher scores in SAD patients), but no main effect of session or significant interaction effects between the three factors. Thus, there were no significant behavioural effects of RTD compared to the sham depletion control session.Conclusions. The summer remission experienced by SAD patients is not dependent on plasma tryptophan levels (and presumably brain serotonin function) in the same manner as that of remission after light therapy. These results conflict with those of other laboratories, perhaps because of differences in study samples.

scholarly journals Blue Light Therapy and the Circadian Rhythm: Effect on Southern California High School Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Hoy
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Blue Light ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Patient Experiences ◽  
School Students ◽  
Positive Results

Blue-light therapy is well known for curing patients with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), where the patient experiences depressive factors. In this study I used blue-light therapy in the form of blue-light lightboxes from the comapny Circadian Optics, as seen on shark tank. Instead of using the lightboxes to cure SAD, they were instead used to see if they provoked the participants sleep quality. The participants from Polytechnic highschool were selected from the Badminton Team, where the athletes woke up at five a.m. on school days. This ensured that the crowd was overall tired and fatigued. Over the four week testing course, participants proved positive results.

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