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Thought overactivation as a marker of bipolar disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

M. Ferrari ,
P. Ossola ,
V. Lucarini ,
V. Accardi ,
C. De Panfilis ,
M. Tonna  and
C. Marchesi
M. Ferrari*
Affiliation:
University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy
P. Ossola
Affiliation:
University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy
V. Lucarini
Affiliation:
University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy
V. Accardi
Affiliation:
University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy
C. De Panfilis
Affiliation:
University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy
M. Tonna
Affiliation:
Local Health Agency, Mental Health Department, Parma, Italy
C. Marchesi
Affiliation:
University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Parma, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Recent studies have underlined the importance of considering the form of thoughts, beyond their content, in order to achieve a better phenomenological comprehension of mental states in mood disorders. The subjective experience of thought overactivation is an important feature of mood disorders that could help in identifying, among patients with a depressive episode, those who belong to the bipolar spectrum.

Objectives

Patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) were compared with matched healthy controls (HC) on a scale that evaluates thought overactivation.

Aims

Validate the Italian version of a scale for thought overactivation (i.e. STOQ) in a sample of bipolar patients.

Methods

Thirty euthymic BD and 30 HC completed the Subjective Thought Overactivation Questionnaire (STOQ), the Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and global functioning (VGF).

Results

The 9-items version of the STOQ has been back translated and its internal consistency in this sample was satisfactory (alpha = .91). Both the brooding subscore of RRS (b-RRS) (r = .706; P < .001) and STOQ (r = .664; P < .001) correlate significantly with depressive symptoms whereas only the first correlate with VGF (r = –.801; P < .001). The two groups did not differed in the b-RRS (HC = 8.41 vs BD = 9.72; P = .21), whereas BD where significantly higher in the STOQ total score (HC = 6.62 vs. BD = 14.9; P = .007).

Conclusion

Our results, although limited by the small sample size, confirm the validity of the STOQ and suggest that this scale could grasp a feature characteristic of BD, independently from their tendency to ruminate. The latter seems to impact more on global functioning.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
EW429
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 33 , Issue S1: Abstracts of the 24th European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2016 , pp. s222 - s223
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2014
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