Association of affective temperaments measured by TEMPS-a with cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar disorder

Guiyun Xu; Weicong Lu; Huiyi Ouyang; Yamei Dang; Yangbo Guo; Guodong Miao; Daniel Bessonov; Kareen K Akiskal; Hagop S Akiskal; Kangguang Lin

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2014.03.005

Association of affective temperaments measured by TEMPS-a with cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar disorder

J Affect Disord. 2014 Jun:161:109-15. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.03.005. Epub 2014 Mar 21.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Affective Disorder, Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Psychiatric Neuroscience Research Institute, Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Psychology, Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ International Mood Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁵ Department of Affective Disorder, Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China; Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong; Laboratory of Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Electronic address: Klin@hku.hk.

PMID: 24751317
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.03.005

Abstract

Background: Affective temperaments such as cyclothymia, which may be the fundamental substrates for bipolar disorder and bipolar II in particular, have been reported to be associated with abnormalities in the regions that are related to cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder. However, few studies have examined the effects of affective temperaments on neuropsychological performance in individuals with bipolar disorder.

Method: In a six-week prospective study, we administered Chinese version of TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, San Diego-Autoquestionnair) to 93 patients with bipolar I depression, 135 patients with bipolar II depression, and 101 healthy controls. Cognitive function was assessed with a battery of neuropsychological tasks, including attention, processing speed, set shifting, planning, verbal working memory, verbal fluency, and visual spatial memory. Mixed-effects statistical models were used to assess the effects of affective temperaments on cognitive function.

Results: Bipolar patients with hyperthymic temperament showed greater cognitive deficits in set shifting (p=0.05) and verbal working memory (p=0.026) than did bipolar patients with non-predominant temperaments (predominant temperament was defined as one standard deviation above the mean). The differences in estimated marginal means were -0.624 (95% CI, -1.25 to 0) and -0.429 (95% CI, -0.81 to -0.05), respectively. Significant temperament X bipolar subtype interaction effects were observed for set shifting (Wald X(2)=18.161, p<0.001), planning (Wald X(2)=7.906, p=0.048), and visual spatial memory (Wald X(2)=16.418, p=0.001).

Limitation: The anxious temperament was not evaluated.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that hyperthymic temperament may be associated with cognitive deficits in some specific domains in bipolar disorder; and that the effect of temperaments may be different across subtypes of bipolar disorder.

Keywords: Bipolar disorders; Cognition; Neuropsychological test; TEMPS-A; Temperament.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Bipolar Disorder / psychology*
Cognition Disorders / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Prospective Studies
Temperament*
Young Adult