Lifetime mania is related to post-traumatic stress symptoms in high school students exposed to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake

Liliana Dell'osso; Paolo Stratta; Ciro Conversano; Enrico Massimetti; Kareen K Akiskal; Hagop S Akiskal; Alessandro Rossi; Claudia Carmassi

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2013.08.017

Lifetime mania is related to post-traumatic stress symptoms in high school students exposed to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake

Compr Psychiatry. 2014 Feb;55(2):357-62. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2013.08.017. Epub 2013 Oct 18.

Authors

Liliana Dell'osso¹, Paolo Stratta², Ciro Conversano¹, Enrico Massimetti¹, Kareen K Akiskal³, Hagop S Akiskal³, Alessandro Rossi², Claudia Carmassi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Section of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
² Section of Psychiatry, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, Italy, L'Aquila, Italy.
³ International Mood Center, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁴ Section of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: ccarmassi@gmail.com.

PMID: 24269194
DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2013.08.017

Abstract

Background: Bipolar patients seem to be at high risk of trauma exposure and, when exposed, of PTSD. When comorbid, PTSD has shown a negative impact on the course of the bipolar illness. Conversely, a correlation between even manic symptoms and an increased risk for suicide has also been reported in PTSD patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between lifetime mood spectrum symptoms and PTSD in a sample of earthquake survivors.

Methods: A total of 475 young adults who survived the L'Aquila 2009 earthquake, 21months earlier, were assessed by the Moods Spectrum-Self Report (MOODS-SR) and the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self Report (TALS-SR).

Results: Significantly higher MOODS-SR and TALS-SR domain scores were found in PTSD survivors compared to those without. The mood depressive (O.R.=1.17, 95% CI: 1.10-1.25), cognition depressive (O.R.=1.07, 95% CI: 1.01-1.14) and energy manic (O.R.=1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.25) MOODS-SR domains were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of PTSD.

Conclusions: Our data corroborate the strong relationship between mood disorder and PTSD highlighting a relationship between lifetime depressive and manic symptoms and PTSD, with a particular impact of the latter on the number of traumatic exposures and maladaptive behaviors.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Bipolar Disorder / classification
Bipolar Disorder / epidemiology
Bipolar Disorder / physiopathology*
Comorbidity
Disasters
Earthquakes
Female
Humans
Italy / epidemiology
Male
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / etiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / physiopathology*
Students / psychology*
Survivors / psychology*
Young Adult