Styles of Regulation in the Bipolar Spectrum 1

Abstract

Styles of regulation were assessed with the Serial Color-Word Test in a group of 35 compensated DSM-III—R bipolar patients (Bipolar) and in 3 control groups: Major Depression (n = 35), Schizophrenia (n = 50), and self-rated Personality Disorder (n = 40). On several measures of nonlinear change (V), patients in the Bipolar group had mean scores between those of the Personality Disorder and the Schizophrenic groups, and overlapped with those of the Major Depression group. Patients in the Bipolar group with clearcut temperaments (hyperthymic or depressive) were significantly more dissociative and less stabilized than other patients in the same group. A further group of nonclinical subjects with hyperthymic temperament (n = 20) was significantly more dissociative than the Personality Disorder group.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akiskal

, Hirschfeld

R. M.

, & Yerevanian

B. I.

(1983) The relationship of personality to affective disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 801–810.

American Psychiatric Association. (1987) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (3rd ed., Rev.) Washington, DC: Author.

Cassano

G. B.

, Akiskal

H. S.

, Savino

, Musetti

, & Perugi

(1992) Proposed subtypes of Bipolar II and related disorders: with hypomanic episodes (or cyclothymia) and with hyperthymic temperament. Journal of Affective Disorders, 26, 127–140.

Eberhard

, Johnson

, Nilsson

, & Smith

G. J. W.

(1965) Clinical and experimental approaches to the description of depression and antidepressive therapy. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 41, Supplement No. 186.

Huber

(1994) Psychiatrie. (5th ed.) Stuttgart: Schattauer.

Nilsson

, & Smith

G. J. W.

(1962) Dimensions of overt behavior as represented in EEG and adaptive test patterns. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 38, 277–301.

Nyman

G. E.

, & Smith

G. J. W.

(1959) A contribution to the definition of psychopathic personality. Lunds Universitets Arskrift, Series 2, Vol. 55, No. 10. Lund: Gleerups.

Rangell

(1974) A psychoanalytic perspective leading currently to the syndrome of the compromise of integrity. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 55, 3–12.

Rubino

I. A.

, Del Monaco

, Rocchi

M. T.

, & Pezzarossa

(1994) Microgenetic styles of regulation in schizophrenia. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 79, 451–457.

10.

Rubino

I. A.

, Grasso

, & Pezzarossa

(1990) Microgenetic patterns of adaptation on the Stroop task by patients with bronchial asthma and duodenal peptic ulcer. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 71, 19–31.

11.

Rubino

I. A.

, Greco

, Zanna

, & Pezzarossa

(1994) Microgenetic styles in Histrionic and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 51–60.

12.

Rubino

I. A.

, Verucci

, & Fortuna

(1993) Microgenetic styles of regulation among two nonpsychotic psychiatric groups. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 76, 1059–1069.

13.

Smith

G. J. W.

, Nilsson

, & Johnson

(1964) Differentiation of character neurosis and symptom neurosis on the basis of the differences between two serial experiments. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 5, 234–238.

14.

Smith

G. J. W.

, Nyman

G. E.

, & Hentschel

(1986) Manual till CWT-Serialt Färgordtest. Stockholm: PsykologiFörlaget.

15.

Spitzer

R. L.

, Williams

J. B. W.

, Gibbon

, & First

M. B.

(1993) SCID: Intervista clinica strutturata per il DSM-III—R. Firenze: Organizzazioni Speciali.