Introduction In recent years, the association between temperament and clinical characteristics of mood disorders has been studied. Most bipolar patients show deficits in their awareness of signs and symptoms. The relationship between affective temperament and insight in bipolar patients has not been carried out in the literature so far. Objective To evaluate the relationship between affective temperament and insight in bipolar disorder. Method A group of 65 bipolar patients were followed during a year. Patients underwent a clinical assessment and were diagnosed using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). Insight was evaluated through the Insight Scale for Affective Disorders (ISAD), and affective temperament, through the TEMPS-Rio de Janeiro. The relationship between affective temperament and insight was explored with Spearman rho correlations between scores on each item of the ISAD and on the TEMPS-Rio de Janeiro subscales. Results In euthymic phases, bipolars with depressive temperament were associated with a higher level of insight about the consequences of the disorder; when in mania, patients showed better insight about having an affective disorder, presenting psychomotor alterations, and suffering from guilt or grandiosity. Similarly, bipolar patients with higher scores of anxious temperament, when in mania, had better insight on alterations in attention. Bipolar patients with higher scores of hyperthymic temperament, when in mania, showed the worst insight about thought disorder. Conclusion In addition to being determined by the phase of the disease and several varying symptoms, the level of insight in bipolar patients is also influenced by affective temperament.

Background: Affective temperament may strongly influence psychopathological characteristics in mood disorders such as clinical course of major or minor affective episodes, predominant polarity, clinical symptoms, long term clinical course, suicidality, and response/adherence to medication.Objective: The objective of this work is evaluate the association between affective temperament and clinical characteristics in bipolar disorder (BD) patients.Method: 88 euthymic bipolar patients were evaluated through Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Clinical Global Impressions Scale for use in bipolar illness (CGI-BP), and TEMPS-Rio de Janeiro. Identification, sociodemographic data, and clinical information as age on disease onset, number of manic episodes, number of depressive episodes, polarity of first affective episode, and history of suicidal attempts, if any, from each patient were collected.Results: Our results founded that high scores in cyclothymic, irritable, depressive and anxious temperaments were associated with at least one suicide attempt. Higher scores of anxious temperament were associated with depressive polarity in the first episode of the disease as well as higher amount of manic episodes. Higher scores of hyperthymic temperament were associated with manic polarity in the first episode of the disease. Higher scores of depressive temperament were associated with higher scores in total HAM-D and specifically with higher scores in items 1 and 2 of HAM-D, i.e., depressive mood and guilt. No correlation was found between temperament and intensity of subsyndromal manic symptoms.Conclusion: We concluded that affective temperaments in BD are associated with history of suicide attempts, seem to influence polarity of first episode and that depressive temperament seems to relate to more intense subsyndromal depressive symptoms, especially depressive mood and guilt.