Aspects of the affective disorders and the affective temperaments in medical students from Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Abstract

Affective disorders are widespread among student youth. Anxiety and depression are the most common disorders, but thorough diagnostics reveals other emotional disturbances as well, which may imply bipolar disorder (BD). BD is associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes; therefore, it is important to identify masking symptoms that predict the onset and course of BD. One of the predictors of bipolar disorder is the temperament. The present study aimed to analyze the entire spectrum of affective disorders and determine the correlation between them and the affective temperaments. The study involved 106 medical students. They completed the following autoquestionnaires: PHQ-9, ASRM, GAD-7, ShARS, HCL-32 and TEMPS-A. Conducting analyses, the results of the HCL-32 questionnaire were statistically significantly correlating with the results of GAD-7 (p = 0.034) and the hyperthymic (p = 0.000), cyclothymic (p = 0.000) and excitable (p = 0.004) temperaments according to TEMPS-A. When dividing the total sample into two groups, based on the HCL-32 questionnaire data, a higher incidence of depressive disorders on the PHQ-9 scale (p = 0.023) was found among respondents who scored more than 14 points on the HCL-32. Almost half of the respondents showed a high level of hypomania, which implies a high risk of developing bipolar spectrum disorders. A statistically significant relationship between hypomania and personality traits was found with hyperthymic, cyclothymic and excitable temperaments. It is necessary to diagnose such disorders in time to improve the social functioning of the students.