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Temperamental commonalities and differences in euthymic mood disorder patients, creative controls, and healthy
Cecylia Nowakowska1, Connie M Strong, Claudia M Santosa
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Room 2350, Stanford, CA 94305-5723, USA.
Journal of Affective Disorders
|March 23, 2005
Summary
Euthymic patients with bipolar (BP) and major depressive disorder (MDD), and creative students (CC), share temperamental traits with each other and differ from healthy controls (HC). BP patients showed higher cyclothymia than MDD patients, suggesting shared neurobiology between mood disorders and creativity.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Mood disorders, including bipolar disorder (BP) and major depressive disorder (MDD), are complex conditions influenced by underlying temperamental traits.
- Understanding these traits can offer insights into the pathophysiology and potential shared mechanisms with other conditions or behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate temperamental commonalities and differences among euthymic BP patients, MDD patients, creative discipline graduate students (CC), and healthy controls (HC).
- To explore the relationship between temperament, mood disorders, and creative disciplines.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 49 BP, 25 MDD, 32 CC, and 47 HC participants.
- Utilized self-report measures: Affective Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A), Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).
Main Results:
- Euthymic BP, MDD, and CC groups exhibited increased cyclothymia, dysthymia, irritability, neuroticism, harm avoidance, and novelty seeking compared to HC.
- BP and CC groups showed increased openness compared to HC, with CC also higher than MDD.
- BP patients had significantly higher TEMPS-A cyclothymia scores than MDD patients and higher TCI self-transcendence scores than all other groups.
Conclusions:
- Significant temperamental commonalities exist between euthymic BP, MDD, and CC groups, distinguishing them from HC.
- The heightened openness in BP and CC, and higher cyclothymia in BP, suggest shared neurobiological underpinnings relevant to mood disorders and creativity.
- These findings support the concept of a temperamental contribution to enhanced creativity in individuals with bipolar disorder.