Illness perceptions and adherence in bipolar disorder: An exploratory study

According to the Self-Regulation Model, illness perceptions influence an individual's coping (such as the taking of treatment) and emotional response to their illness. Emerging research suggests that this model could be used to explore illness perceptions in mental health. The aim of this exploratory study is, firstly, to measure and describe illness perception in French patients with a bipolar diagnosis and, secondly, to explore associations between illness perceptions and adherence in this population.

Thirty-eight French patients with bipolar disorder completed the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia (except the identity dimension). We measured medication adherence with the Medication Adherence Rating Scale.

Our results showed that patients with high perceptions concerning treatment control, low perceptions of negative emotions of their mental illness, low perception of consequences and high comprehension of their disorder had a better adherence.

Illness perceptions can provide a framework for understanding adherence in bipolar disorder, and the findings could have important clinical and research implications.