Characterization of patients with mood disorders for their prevalent temperament and level of hopelessness

Background: Mood disorders (MD) are disabling conditions throughout the world associated with significant psychosocial impairment. Affective temperaments, as well as hopelessness, may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of MD. The present study was designed to characterize patients with MD for their prevalent affective temperament and level of hopelessness. Methods: Five hundred fifty-nine (253 men and 306 women) consecutive adult inpatients were assessed using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire version (TEMPS A). the Gotland Scale for Male Depression (GSMD), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Results: Higher cyclothymia and irritable temperaments were found in bipolar disorder-I (BD I) patients compared to those with other Axis I diagnoses. Major depressive disorder (MDD) patients had lower hyperthymia than BD-I and BD-II patients and higher anxiety than patients with other Axis l diagnoses. Severe male depression was more common in BD-II patients compared to BD-I and MDD patients. BD-I patients and those with other axis l diagnoses reported lower BHS >= 9 scores than those with BD-II and MDD. Limitations: The study had the limitations of all naturalistic designs, that is, potentially relevant variables were not addressed. Furthermore, the cross-sectional nature of the study did not allow conclusions about causation, and the use of self-report measures could be potentially biased by social desirability. Conclusion: MDD patients were more likely to have higher anxious temperament, higher hopelessness and lower hyperthymic temperament scores, while BD-I patients more often had cyclothymic and irritable temperaments than patients with other Axis l diagnoses. The implications of the present results were discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.