The amphetamine challenge test correlates with affective lability in healthy volunteers

The personality dimension of mood lability may be reflected in the mood response to the amphetamine challenge test. To test this hypothesis, the investigators acutely administered oral dextroamphetamine or placebo in a double-blind fashion to 11 normal control subjects who were free of any psychiatric disorders. Increased scores on interview and self-report measures of mood change during the challenge test, particularly increases in depression and anxiety, positively correlated with scores on the Affective Lability Scale, a measure of the lifetime personality trait of mood lability. These findings suggest that a dysphoric response to amphetamine is a marker for affective lability and that it may be useful to study this trait in patients with personality disorders.