David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Behavioral addictions linked to bipolar disorder
By Lucy Piper
05 March 2010
18th European Congress of Psychiatry; Munich, Germany; 27 February?2 March 2010
Patients with bipolar disorder are at increased risk for behavioral addictions, researchers have found.
They reported at the 18th European Congress of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, that these behavioral addictions appear to be linked to higher levels of impulsivity and character immaturity.
M Di Nicola and colleagues from Catholic University Medical School in Rome, Italy, assessed behavioral addictions in 158 outpatients with bipolar disorder and 200 mentally healthy individuals.
The main behavioral addictions assessed were pathologic gambling, compulsive shopping, sexual, internet, work, and physical exercise addictions.
The researchers also administered the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) to see whether impulsivity and personality dimensions were associated with behavioral addictions in the patients.
They found that 33% of bipolar disorder patients had at least one behavioral addiction, compared with just 13% of controls.
The most common behavioral addictions, for which bipolar disorder patients scored significantly highly, were pathologic gambling, compulsive buying, and sexual and work addictions.
Bipolar disorder patients with behavioral addictions tended to have lower levels of impulsivity than those without such addictions, while levels of the personality dimensions self-directness and cooperativeness were significantly higher.
Di Nicola concluded: ?To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the prevalence of behavioral addictions in bipolar disorder showing a significant association of these disorders.?
By Lucy Piper
05 March 2010
18th European Congress of Psychiatry; Munich, Germany; 27 February?2 March 2010
Patients with bipolar disorder are at increased risk for behavioral addictions, researchers have found.
They reported at the 18th European Congress of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, that these behavioral addictions appear to be linked to higher levels of impulsivity and character immaturity.
M Di Nicola and colleagues from Catholic University Medical School in Rome, Italy, assessed behavioral addictions in 158 outpatients with bipolar disorder and 200 mentally healthy individuals.
The main behavioral addictions assessed were pathologic gambling, compulsive shopping, sexual, internet, work, and physical exercise addictions.
The researchers also administered the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) to see whether impulsivity and personality dimensions were associated with behavioral addictions in the patients.
They found that 33% of bipolar disorder patients had at least one behavioral addiction, compared with just 13% of controls.
The most common behavioral addictions, for which bipolar disorder patients scored significantly highly, were pathologic gambling, compulsive buying, and sexual and work addictions.
Bipolar disorder patients with behavioral addictions tended to have lower levels of impulsivity than those without such addictions, while levels of the personality dimensions self-directness and cooperativeness were significantly higher.
Di Nicola concluded: ?To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the prevalence of behavioral addictions in bipolar disorder showing a significant association of these disorders.?
