Impulsivity in Euthymic Patients with Bipolar Disorder and Their First-Degree Relatives: A Comparative Study with Healthy Controls

Ceren Hıdıroğlu 1, Şehnaz Neslihan Gürz Yalçın 2, Başak Bağcı 2, Yaprak Çilem Yalçın Arslan2, Zeliha Tunca 2, Aysegul Özerdem 3

1Dokuz Eylül University Social Sciences Institute Clinical Neurosciences, 2DEU Medicine Focus Psychiotry AD, JDEU Psychiotry AD-Social Sciences Institute Neurosciences AD

Bipolar disorder is a neuropsychiatric disorder with impulsivity [l]. Impulsivity is a multifaceted concept that occurs pathologically in various psychiatric disorders, including personality dimensions, behavioral and cognitive components. Impulsivity is thought to be a chronic tendency in bipolar disorder, independent of symptom severity and illness periods [2,3]. The aim was to evaluate impulsivity and risk-taking tendency in thymic bipolar patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives in comparison with healthy individuals. It was hypothesized that patients and their relatives would exhibit similar characteristics, but different from healthy individuals.

The sample consisted of 30 patients diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder who had been thymic for at least 6 months, 25 first-degree relatives of these patients, and 30 healthy participants matched with the patients. In the study, SClD-l, SKIP-TURK, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-ll, Balloon Analog Risk Test (BART) and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were used.

BART, a measure that evaluates risk taking behaviorally, showed significantly less learning behavior in bipolar patients and their first-degree relatives compared to healthy controls. Bipolar patients scored significantly higher than healthy controls in the total BD-ll score. There was no relationship between disease variables and scale and test results in bipolar patients.

The findings show that bipolar patients have impulsivity and risk-taking tendencies that continue during their remission periods and are independent of disease features. The observation of a similar pattern in first-degree relatives supports the view that impulsivity is a strong candidate endophenotype for bipolar disorder.

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