Tendencies Toward Mania and Tendencies Toward Depression Have Distinct Motivational, Affective, and Cognitive Correlates

Abstract

Debate has emerged in the literature on mania, with some evidence suggesting that tendencies toward mania relate to negative emotional and cognitive styles, and other evidence suggesting that tendencies toward mania relate to positive emotional and cognitive styles. An initial study examined how tendencies toward mania (as measured by the Hypomanic Personality Scale) and tendencies toward depression (as measured by the Inventory to Diagnose Depression-Lifetime version) were related to diverse measures pertaining to incentive and threat motivations, negative and positive emotionality, and cognitive responses to emotion, among 238 undergraduates. Tendencies toward mania related to a self-reported pattern of reacting intensely to positive stimuli, both cognitively and emotionally, as well as lower sensitivity to threatening stimuli and less restraint over impulses. In contrast, tendencies toward depression related to a pattern of reacting more strongly to negative stimuli emotionally and cognitively, as well as deficits in the ability to savor positive affect. This pattern was re-confirmed in a second sample of 394 undergraduates, who completed many of the same measures plus a measure of current mood symptoms. This second sample confirmed that the pattern was not mood-state dependent. Implications for future research and clinical work are discussed, including an intriguing conceptual parallel in the distinct sets of correlates of depressive versus manic tendencies.

Neural Correlates of Emotional Distractibility in Bipolar Disorder Patients, Unaffected Relatives, and Individuals With Hypomanic Personality

“…Neither of the studied high-risk populations exhibited the increased emotional distraction effect observed in bipolar patients, although in previous studies, abnormal emotional processing (e.g., in responding to emotional faces) and emotion regulation have been observed in unaffected relatives (42)(43)(44) and in individuals with hypomanic personality (45)(46)(47). This selective impairment in remitted chronic bipolar patients suggests that increased emotional distractibility is a consequence of bipolar disorder that develops after the experience of at least one illness episode.…”

Creativity is linked to ambition across the bipolar spectrum

“…We administered two subscales that have consistently differentiated BD from healthy controls and those at high risk from those at low risk for BD: Popular Fame and Financial Success (cf. Carver and Johnson, 2009;Johnson and Carver, 2006;Johnson and Jones, 2009). Internal consistency for Popular Fame was adequate, α = .84.…”

The Impact of Thought Speed and Variability on Psychological State and Threat Perception: Further Exploration of the Theory of Mental Motion

“…Evidence suggests that processing biases commonly present in anxiety as unconscious, uncontrollable propensities towards threat perception (Teachman et al 2012). However, whilst mania may be associated with decreased threat sensitivity, evidence is inconsistent (Carver and Johnson 2009). Consequently, this study component was exploratory.…”

“…Hypothesis Three Symptoms of mania may be associated with decreased threat sensitivity; however, evidence is inconsistent (Carver and Johnson 2009). Consequently, it was tentatively predicted that fast, variable thought would be associated with decreased levels of threat interpretation.…”

“…However, the evidence did not support this prediction. This study component was acknowledged as exploratory given the mixed evidence of threat sensitivity in mania (Carver and Johnson 2009;Garcia-Blanco et al 2014) and that existing interpretation bias research has predominantly focused on valence, not threat (e.g., Lex et al 2011;Thomas et al 2009). Consequently, the study results cannot be considered conclusive evidence that mania-consistent processing biases are not induced by manipulated changes in thought speed and variability.…”