Rethinking "aggression" and impulsivity in bipolar disorder: Risk, clinical and brain circuitry features

Correlation between emotion dysregulation and mood symptoms of bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Emotion dysregulation (ED) is a transdiagnostic construct characterized by difficulties regulating intense emotions. People with bipolar disorder (BD) are more likely to show ED and use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies than adaptive ones. However, little is known about whether ED in BD is a trait or it is rather an epiphenomenon of mood symptoms.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence across major literature databases reporting correlations between measures of emotion regulation (overall ED and different emotion regulation strategies) and measures of depressive and (hypo)manic symptoms in BD from inception until April 12th, 2022.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies involving 1371 individuals with BD were included in the qualitative synthesis, of which 11 reported quantitative information and were included in the meta-analysis. ED and maladaptive strategies were significantly higher during periods with more severe mood symptoms, especially depressive ones, while adaptive strategies were lower.

CONCLUSION

ED significantly correlates with BD symptomatology, and it mainly occurs during mood alterations. ED may be a target for specific psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatments, according to precision psychiatry. However, further studies are needed, including patients with mood episodes and longitudinal design, to provide more robust evidence and explore the causal direction of the associations.

Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and the Right Anterior Insula Differentiates between Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and Healthy Controls

Background: This study aimed to explore possible differences of the whole-brain functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula (AI), in a sample of depressed patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD) and healthy controls (HC). Methods: A hundred and three subjects (n_MDD = 35, n_BD = 25, and n_HC = 43) between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five years old underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. The CONN Toolbox was used to process and analyze the functional connectivity of the ACC and AI. Results: The comparison between the patients (MDD/BD) and HC yielded increased resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the ACC and the motor and somatosensory cortices (SSC), superior parietal lobule (SPL), precuneus, and lateral occipital cortex, which was driven by the BD group. In addition, hyperconnectivity between the right AI and the motor and SSC was found in BD, as compared to HC. In MDD, as compared to HC, hyperconnectivity between ACC and SPL and the lateral occipital cortex was found, with no statistical rsFC differences for the AI seed. Compared to BD, the MDD group showed ACC-cerebellum hyperconnectivity and a trend for increased rsFC between the right AI and the bilateral superior frontal cortex. Conclusions: Considering the observed hyperconnectivity between the ACC/somatosensory cortex in the patient group, we suggest depression may be related to an impairment of the sensory-discriminative function of the SSC, which results in the phenomenological signature of mental pain in both MDD and BD. These findings suggest that future research should investigate this particular network with respect to motor functions and executive control, as a potential differential diagnostic biomarker for MDD and BD.

Clinical Markers of Physical Violence in Patients with Bipolar Disorder in Manic States

Purpose

Identifying patients with bipolar disorder (BD) in manic states (BD-M) who are at a high risk of physical violence is a matter of clinical concern. This retrospective institution-based study aimed to identify simple, rapid, and inexpensive clinical markers of physical violence in patients with BD-M.

Patients and Methods

The anonymized sociodemographic variables (sex, age, years of education, marital status) and clinical ones (weight, height, body mass index, blood pressure, the score of BRMS, number of BD episodes, psychotic symptoms, history of violence, biochemical parameters, and blood routine parameters) of 316 BD-M participants were collected, and the risk of physical violence was identified using the Brøset Violence Checklist (BVC). Difference tests, correlation analyses, and multivariate linear regression analysis were performed to identify clinical markers for the risk of physical violence.

Results

The participants were categorized into groups at low (49, 15.51%), medium (129, 40.82%), and high (138, 43.67%) risk of physical violence. The number of BD episodes, serum uric acid (UA), free thyroxine (FT4) levels, history of violence, and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) differed significantly between groups (all P<0.05). The number of BD episodes (r=0.152), FT3 (r=0.131) and FT4 (r=0.132) levels, history of violence (r=0.206), and MLR (r=-0.132) were significantly correlated with the risk of physical violence (all P<0.05). The existence of history of violence, number of BD episodes, UA, FT4, and MLR were identified as clinical markers of the risk of physical violence in patients with BD-M (all P<0.05).

Conclusion

These identified markers are readily available at initial presentation and may help in the timely assessment and treatment of patients with BD-M.

Association between childhood maltreatment and social functioning in individuals with affective disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to impairments in social functioning and social cognition in adults with affective disorders. However, conclusions have been limited by inconsistent findings across different maltreatment subtypes and social domains. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify associations between childhood maltreatment (overall and subtypes - physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, and/or physical and/or emotional neglect) and different domains of social functioning and social cognition in adults with affective disorders (bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder). We also examined effect moderators and mediators of these associations.

METHODS

A systematic search was performed on 12.12.2022 which identified 29 studies included in qualitative synthesis (n = 3022 individuals with affective disorders), of which 27 (n = 2957) were pooled in meta-analyses. Across studies, five social functioning and five social cognition domains were examined, of which four domains of social functioning and two domains of social cognition had sufficient data for meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42022288976).

RESULTS

Social functioning: childhood maltreatment was associated with lower global social functioning (r = -0.11 to -0.20), poorer interpersonal relations (r = -0.18 to -0.33), and with aggressive behaviour (r = 0.20-0.29) but was unrelated to vocational functioning. Emotional abuse and emotional neglect showed the largest magnitudes of effect. Social cognition: there was no meta-analytic evidence of associations between maltreatment and social cognition domains. Exploratory moderation analyses did not identify any consistent moderators. Narrative synthesis identified attachment style as possible moderator, and sensory patterns, anxiety, and depressive symptoms as possible mediators between childhood maltreatment and social outcomes. Overall, the available evidence was limited, particularly in relation to social cognition.

CONCLUSIONS

Adults with affective disorders are at risk of social functioning difficulties after childhood maltreatment exposure, an effect observed across multiple maltreatment subtypes, social functioning domains, and diagnoses. Addressing social functioning problems may benefit maltreated adults with both bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Co-occurrence patterns of adverse childhood experiences and their associations with non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal behaviors and gender difference among middle school students: A three-city survey in China

BACKGROUND

Previous research has found increasing evidence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) leading to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors. Most studies have focused on a certain type or timing of ACEs or the patterns of multiple types; however, few of them have examined the patterns of ACEs combined types and timing and the gender differences in the association between ACEs and self-harming behaviors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three Chinese cities from November 2020 to May 2021. We asked 16,853 middle school students to anonymously complete a questionnaire to provide the details of their own ACEs and NSSI or suicidal behaviors.

RESULTS

Latent class analysis identified four classes: high ACEs (10 %), high abuse/neglect (20.3 %), moderate ACEs (26.7 %) and low ACEs (43 %). Logistic regression models demonstrated that students in the high ACEs, high abuse/neglect and moderate ACEs subgroups were more likely to engage in NSSI and suicidal behaviors than students with low ACEs. Compared with boys, girls had a higher probability of engaging in NSSI and suicidal behaviors when exposed to the same level of ACEs.

CONCLUSION

Co-occurrence of ACEs is associated with high risk of NSSI and suicidal behaviors. Our findings recognized the most dangerous patterns and latent class membership, which supply the evidence for policy makers to adopt preventive measures to protect high-risk individuals. Strategies to relieve the impact of ACEs, especially on girls, need to be considered comprehensively.

LIMITATIONS

The study was limited by cross-sectional design, as causality could not be confirmed. In addition, because our survey was retrospective, potential recall bias can not be ignored.