Emotional reactivity and activity in the regulative theory of temperament and positive mood regulation in bipolar disorder – a pilot study

Introduction
Despite an enormous amount of evidence that supports the connection between temperament and susceptibility to bipolar disorder as well as the intensively evolving knowledge regarding patients’ positive affect regulation, there is no evidence of a relationship between emotional reactivity and activity in the regulative theory of temperament conceptualization, affective regulation, and aggravation of hypomanic symptoms associated with bipolar disorder. The present study builds on the relationship between emotional reactivity and neuroticism connected with negative affect and between activity and extraversion connected with positive affect. There is also a widely proven relationship between activity, understood as a state, and positive affect.

Aim of the study
To examine the connection between temperament, the frequency of using positive mood regulation strategies and aggravation of hypomanic symptoms.

Material and methods
This study surveyed 22 bipolar disorder patients with a battery of questionnaires: Formal Characteristics of Behaviour – Temperament Inventory, Mood Regulation Practices, HCL-32, and BDI-I. Formal Characteristics of Behaviour – Temperament Inventory diagnoses biologically conditioned dimensions of temperament in 6 scales: Briskness, Perseverance, Sensory sensitivity, Endurance, Emotional reactivity and Activity. Mood Regulation Practices measures frequency of using mood regulation strategies in scales as follows: positive/negative mood and up-/down-regulation. The HCL-32 contains 32 yes/no questions focusing on hypomanic symptoms appearing in emotions, behaviors and thoughts. The intensity of depression symptoms was assessed with BDI-I.

Results
Quadratic regression analysis showed a linear relationship between activity and the frequency of using positive mood up-regulation strategies as well as a non-linear relationship between activity and the frequency of using negative mood up-regulation strategies. Emotional reactivity and an interaction effect between emotional reactivity and activity explained the variation in active/elated hypomanic symptoms. Irritable/risk taking hypomanic symptoms exhibited a linear relationship with emotional reactivity.

Conclusions
This study sheds light on the relationship between temperament in the regulative theory of temperament conceptualization and positive mood regulation in bipolar disorder.