Affective temperaments of Lebanese patients with schizophrenia: comparison by gender and severity of psychosis

Objectives Our aim in this study was to identify affective temperament differences utilizing the TEMPS-A in a large sample size of Lebanese patients with schizophrenia and compare them to healthy controls. Gender differences, demographic factors and degree of psychotic symptoms were also considered. A cross‐sectional study was conducted at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross (PHC) from March to June 2019. Two-hundred fifty chronic patients with schizophrenia were compared to 250 healthy controls randomly chosen from the general population. Results Patients with schizophrenia significantly had higher mean depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperament scores compared to healthy controls. Healthy controls significantly had a higher mean hyperthymic temperament score compared to patients with schizophrenia. In the group of patients with schizophrenia exclusively, females scored higher in terms of depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperaments compared to males. In the group of healthy controls, males scored higher in terms of hyperthymic and irritable temperaments compared to females, whereas a higher mean depressive and anxious temperament scores were significantly found in females compared to males. In addition, higher PANSS total scores, as well as higher positive, negative and general subscales scores were significantly associated with higher depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperament scores.

Influence of Psychological Vulnerability Factors for Bipolar Disorders on a Semantic Mediated Priming Task

Hypomanic personality, hyperthymic temperament and irritable temperament are considered as psychological vulnerability factors to bipolar disorders. Semantic memory is impaired in bipolar patients. Spreading activation is among the probable candidates for accounting this impairment. The aim of this study was to assess spreading activation according to vulnerability factors continuum to determine whether it could be a factor of vulnerability to bipolar disorders. A sample of 61 healthy volunteers was recruited. Spreading activation was assessed by semantic mediated priming implemented in a double lexical decision task. Results shown that semantic mediated priming was negatively associated to hyperthymic temperament and irritable temperament. Impairment in semantic memory, and more specifically spreading activation, appear to be a cognitive factor of vulnerability to bipolar disorders. Our results can contribute to a better understanding of semantic impairment in vulnerable population and in bipolar disorder.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AFFECTIVE TEMPERAMENT AND PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT

This paper examines whether people with different affective temperament (depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, anxiety-cognitive, anxiety-somatic and mixed) differ in terms of perceived social support. The sample is a convenience one, uniform by gender, consisting of 200 people under the age of 35. The instruments used in the research are: the Serbian version of the TEMPS-A scale, which assesses five affective temperaments, and the Serbian version of the Social Support Scale of the Study of Medical Outcomes (MOS-SSS). The results show that the depressive temperament perceives social support to a lesser extent than the cyclothymic (p <.05), hyperthymic (p <.01), anxiety-cognitive (p <.05) and mixed temperament (p <.05). On the other hand, the hyperthymic temperament is more prone to perceiving social support than the cyclothymic (p <.05) and anxiety-somatic temperaments are (p <.05). The main conclusion of this research is that hyperthymic temperament, which is characterized by most desirable traits such as optimism, sociability, self-confidence and eloquence, perceives its social environment to be more supportive than other temperaments, which is a consequence of its characteristics and the adequate communication of its own needs

ODNOS AFEKTIVNOG TEMPERAMENTA SA DIMENZIJAMA MENTALNOG ZDRAVLJA

This paper examines the relationship between affective temperaments (depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, anxious-cognitive, and anxious-somatic) and symptoms of Terluin’s four dimensions of mental health (Distress, Depression, Anxiety, and Somatization). The sample is convenient, consisted of 190 people under the age of 35. The instruments used in the research are the following: the Serbian version of the TEMPS-A scale, which assess affective temperaments, and The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ). Results show that depressive and cyclothymic temperament are significant predictors of all Terluin’s dimensions. In addition, Anxiety can be significantly predicted based on hyperthymic, anxious-cognitive, and anxious- somatic temperament, and Somatization based on anxious-somatic temperament. Affective temperaments have a positive contribution to all regression models, except for hyperthymic temperament, which has a negative one. The main conclusion of the research is that in people with depressive, anxiety and somatic temperament characteristics, in stressful situations those characteristics can be intensified. Also, hyperthymic temperament, which is characterized by the largest number of desirable traits, could show a potential protective role in relation to the development of symptoms on Terluin’s dimensions.

Psychopathological characteristics and adverse childhood events are differentially associated with suicidal ideation and suicidal acts in mood disorders

Background:Depression is an important risk factor for suicide. However, other dimensions may contribute to the suicidal risk and to the transition from ideas to acts. We aimed to test the relative involvement of hopelessness, temperament, childhood trauma, and aggression in suicide risk in a large sample of patients with mood disorders.Methods:We assessed 306 patients with major depressive and bipolar disorders for clinical characteristics including hopelessness, temperament, childhood trauma, and aggression. We tested their associations with suicidal ideation and acts using standard univariate/bivariate methods, followed by multivariate logistic regression models.Results:In multivariate analyses, the loss of expectations subscore of the hopelessness scale was associated with lifetime suicidal ideation but not suicide attempt. Childhood emotional abuse, severity of current depression, and female gender were associated with lifetime suicide attempts, whereas hyperthymic temperament was protective. Only hyperthymic temperament differentiated patients with a history of suicidal ideas vs. those with a history of suicide attempt.Conclusions:Findings support the association of hopelessness with suicidal ideation and point to considering in suicidal acts not only depression, but also childhood emotional abuse, hyperthymic temperament, and gender.