BODY IMAGE CONCERNS IN BIPOLAR I AND II DISORDERS: THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH PERSONALITY STYLES AND AFFECTIVE STATES

Background: Body image concerns are associated with the poor prognosis of bipolar disorder, but it is unknown whether bipolar I (BD I) and II (BD II) types differ in these concerns and their associations with personality styles or affective states. Subjects and methods: We therefore invited 89 BD I, 91 BD II patients, and 159 healthy volunteers to undergo the tests of the Body Image Concern Scale (BICS), the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, the Hypomania Checklist - 32, the Plutchik - van Praag Depression Inventory, and the Parker Personality Measure. Results: Both BD I and BD II displayed higher scores of ongoing affective states and of personality disorder functioning styles than healthy controls did. BD II scored higher on all six BICS scales than controls did, and higher on five than BD I did. The depressive measure predicted four, and Dependent style predicted three BICS scales in BD I; and the depressive measure predicted all six BICS scales, hypomanic measure predicted one, and Avoidant style predicted one in BD II. Conclusions: Body image concerns and their associations with the affective states and personality styles were different in BD I and BD II, suggesting different pathological mechanisms, clinical symptom severities and managements for the two types of bipolar disorder

Hypochondriac concerns and correlates of personality styles and affective states in bipolar I and II disorders

Abstract Background Hypochondriac concerns are associated with the treatment-difficulty of bipolar disorder, which might be due to the personality styles and affective states. Methods We invited outpatients with bipolar I disorder (BD I, n = 87), bipolar II disorder (BD II, n = 92) and healthy volunteers (n = 129) to undergo the Illness Attitude Scales and Parker Personality Measure tests, and measurements of concurrent affective states. Results Compared to healthy volunteers, BD I and BD II patients scored significantly higher on mania, hypomania and depression. BD I and BD II patients also scored significantly higher on Symptom Effect and Treatment Seeking, and BD II patients scored higher on Patho-thanatophobia and Hypochondriacal Belief. BD II in addition scored higher on Patho-thanatophobia than BD I did. In controls, the Dependent style predicted Patho-thanatophobia and Symptom Effect, Schizoid with Hypochondriacal Belief; in BD I, Narcissistic (−) with Hypochondriacal Belief, Histrionic with Patho-thanatophobia and Hypochondriacal Belief, depression with Hypochondriacal Belief, and hypomania with Symptom Effect and Hypochondriacal Belief; in BD II, depression with Symptom Effect and Hypochondriacal Belief, mania with Symptom Effect. Conclusions Bipolar disorder, especially BD II, is associated with greater hypochondriac concerns, which relates to personality disorder functioning styles and concurrent affective states

Headache symptoms from migraine patients with and without aura through structure-validated self-reports

Abstract Background Headache symptoms self-reported by migraine patients are largely congruent with the clinician-used diagnostic criteria, but not always so. Patients’ self-reports of headache symptoms might offer additional clues to characterize migraine with (MA) and without (MO) aura more precisely. Methods Firstly, we invited 324 participants with a life-long headache attack to answer an item-matrix measuring symptoms of primary headaches, then we performed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to their answers and refined a headache symptom questionnaire. Secondly, we applied this questionnaire to 28 MA and 52 MO patients. Results In participants with a life-long headache, we refined a 27-item, structure-validated headache symptom questionnaire, with four factors (scales) namely the Somatic /Aura Symptoms, Gastrointestinal and Autonomic Symptoms, Tightness and Location Features, and Prodromal/Aggravating Symptoms. Further, we found that MA patients reported higher than did MO patients on the Somatic/Aura Symptoms and Tightness and Location Features scales. Conclusions Compared to MO, MA was conferred with more prominent tightness and location features besides its higher somatic or aura symptoms. Patients’ self-reports of headache symptoms might offer more clues to distinguish two types of migraine besides their clinician-defined criteria

Personality traits and perception of Müller-Lyer illusion in male Chinese military soldiers and university students

In military men, performance such as gun-shooting precision relies on factors such as the ability to resist visual illusion, and this misperception of visual stimulus might be linked with sensation seeking related personality