2748 – Affective Temperaments Among Patients with Familial Bipolar I Disorder and their Unaffected First-Degree Relatives

Abstract

Introduction:

Given the concept of bipolar spectrum which extends across the family, healthy relatives of bipolar patients, which are a population at high risk for developing mood disorders, may have temperamental deregulations.

Objective:

To compare the mean scores of affective temperaments among patients with familial bipolar I disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study, concerning 50 families of bipolar I disorder which have at least two patients with bipolar I disorder (DSM-IV-TR). We have included 80 clinically recovered patients with bipolar I disorder and 120 unaffected first-degree relatives. The affective temperaments were assessed by Tunisian version of TEMPS-A. Dominant affective temperament is the temperament witch score was more than 2 SD of mean scores.

Results:

Mean scores of cyclothymic and hyperthymic temperaments were higher in bipolar I patients than in their healthy relatives. The difference was significant for only hyperthymic temperament (p=0.038) but it was not significant after adjustment for age, sex and school level. The rate of dominant affective temperament was not differed between bipolar I patients (26.3%) and their healthy relatives (20%). Investigating the role of family, we showed a significant association with depressive (p< 10^-3), cyclothymic (p=10^-3), irritable (p=0.023) and anxious (p=0.003) temperaments.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that patient with family bipolar I disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives had a temperamental deregulation which confirms the concept that affective temperaments are a potential phenotype of bipolar condition.