Mood instability, depression, and anxiety in pregnancy and adverse neonatal outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal women experience an increased level of mood and anxiety symptoms, which have negative effects on mothers' mental and physical health as well as the health of their newborns. The relation of maternal depression and anxiety in pregnancy with neonate outcomes is well-studied with inconsistent findings. However, the association between antenatal mood instability (MI) and neonatal outcomes has not been investigated even though antenatal women experience an elevated level of MI. We sought to address this gap and to contribute to the literature about pregnancy neonate outcomes by examining the relationship among antenatal MI, depression, and anxiety and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: A prospective cohort of women (n = 555) participated in this study at early pregnancy (T1, 17.4 ± 4.9 weeks) and late pregnancy (T2, 30.6 ± 2.7 weeks). The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess antenatal depressive symptoms, anxiety was measured by the EPDS anxiety subscale, and mood instability was measured by a visual analogue scale with five questions. These mood states together with stress, social support, as well as lifestyle were also examined in relation to neonatal outcomes using chi-square tests and logistic regression models. RESULTS: Mood instability, depression, and anxiety were unrelated to adverse neonatal outcomes. Only primiparous status was associated with small for gestational age after Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSIONS: We report no associations between antenatal mood symptoms including MI, depression, and anxiety and neonatal outcomes. More studies are required to further explore the relationship between antenatal mood instability, depression, and anxiety and neonatal outcomes.

Mood instability during pregnancy and postpartum: a systematic review.

Perinatal mood instability (MI) is a common clinical observation in perinatal women, and existing research indicates that MI is strongly associated with a variety of mental disorders. The purpose of this study is to review the evidence of perinatal MI systematically, with a focus on perinatal MI, its relation to perinatal depression, and its effects on children. A systematic search of the literature using PRISMA guidelines was conducted on seven academic health databases to identify any peer-reviewed articles published in English from 1985 to July 2017. Studies were screened, data were extracted, and quality of the selected studies was assessed. A total of 1927 abstracts were returned from the search, with 1063 remaining for abstract screening after duplicate removal, and 4 quantitative studies were selected for final analysis. The selected studies addressed perinatal MI (n = 2), the relation of perinatal MI to perinatal depression (n = 1), and the effects of perinatal MI on children (n = 1). The selected studies identified that perinatal women experienced a significantly higher level of MI than non-perinatal women, MI is a prominent feature in perinatal women with and without depression, mood lability during the early postpartum predicts psychopathology up to 14 months postpartum, and maternal emotion dysregulation, rather than maternal psychopathology, increases the risk of heightened facial affect synchrony in mother-infant interaction. The study reveals a significant gap in the literature of perinatal MI.

Mood Instability and Trait Anxiety as Distinct Components of Eysenckian Neuroticism With Differential Relations to Impulsivity and Risk Taking.

This article presents the results of 2 studies that investigated mood instability in the Eysenck neuroticism scales and its relationship to trait impulsivity and risk taking. In Study 1 we examined the relationship between a mood instability factor in the Eysenck Personality Inventory and impulsivity (i.e., rapid unplanned behavior) in a general population sample of 6,066 adults. The mood instability factor was positively correlated with impulsivity. The remaining factors, largely reflecting trait anxiety, were also positively correlated with impulsivity, although these correlations disappeared when mood instability was included in the same regression model. In Study 2 we factor analyzed the short form of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to isolate mood instability and trait anxiety factors and explore their associations with risk taking in a general population sample of 394,170 adults 40 to 69 years old. The mood instability factor was positively associated with risk taking, whereas the association for the trait anxiety factor was negative. Taken together, the results suggest that mood instability and trait anxiety are separable components of Eysenckian neuroticism and that mood instability is the main component that is positively associated with trait impulsivity and risk taking. Further research is needed to clarify the factor structure of Eysenckian neuroticism.

A randomized placebo-controlled trial examining the effects of escitalopram on neuroticism and state anxiety in a nonclinical sample.

OBJECTIVE: This study reanalyzed data from a randomized placebo-controlled trial that failed to find an effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram on neuroticism and state anxiety in a nonclinical sample. The purpose was to test for unique effects on two neuroticism factors, trait anxiety and mood instability, and to explore whether neuroticism moderated the effect of escitalopram on state anxiety. METHODS: The sample included 80 adults who had a first-degree relative with major depression but without any psychiatric disorders themselves. Participants were randomized to escitalopram 10 mg/day or placebo for 4 weeks. Neuroticism was assessed with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and state anxiety with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). RESULTS: The main effects on the neuroticism factors were not statistically significant, although there was a significant interaction such that the effect of escitalopram compared with placebo on HAM-A scores was statistically significant in participants with higher levels of EPQ trait anxiety, even after controlling for baseline HAM-A scores. A similar interaction with EPQ mood instability was nonsignificant. CONCLUSION: A potential beneficial effect of escitalopram on neuroticism may be driven by reductions in anxiety.

Melancholic Symptoms in Bipolar II Depression and Responsiveness to Lamotrigine in an Exploratory Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: In this exploratory pilot study we reanalyzed data from a previous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of lamotrigine for bipolar II depression in which lamotrigine was not superior to placebo to determine if splitting the sample into melancholic and nonmelancholic subgroups revealed a significant treatment effect. METHODS: Adult outpatients (n = 150) in an acute bipolar II depressive episode completed 8 weeks of treatment with lamotrigine (titrated to 200 mg/d) or placebo. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and weekly with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) and the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The presence of melancholic depression was determined by baseline responses to the HAMD-17 and MADRS according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria. Cox regression models stratified by melancholic status were used to predict HAMD-17 and MADRS treatment response. Analysis-of-variance models were used to compare HAMD-17 and MADRS change scores between lamotrigine and placebo groups while testing for interactions by melancholic status. RESULTS: Lamotrigine was associated with higher odds of treatment response compared with placebo in the melancholic subgroup but not in the nonmelancholic subgroup. However, the melancholic subgroup-treatment interactions from the analysis-of-variance models were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is warranted to test the hypothesis that bipolar depression with melancholic symptoms is more responsive to lamotrigine over placebo than nonmelancholic bipolar depression.

Ketamine-based anesthesia improves electroconvulsive therapy outcomes: a randomized-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and debilitating condition that can be challenging to treat. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is currently the therapeutic gold standard for treatment-resistant MDD. We tested our hypothesis that ketamine-based anesthesia for ECT results in superior improvement in treatment-resistant MDD outcomes compared with propofol-based anesthesia. METHODS: Patients with treatment-resistant MDD were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial with assignment to ketamine- or propofol-based anesthesia arms. Using a modified intention-to-treat analysis, we compared the median number of ECT treatments required to achieve a 50% reduction (primary outcome) and a score ≤ 10 (secondary outcome) on the Montgomery-Asberg depression rating scale (MADRS) between anesthesia groups. RESULTS: The study was terminated as significant results were found after the first planned interim analysis with 12 patients in each of the ketamine (intervention) and propofol (control) groups. All ketamine patients achieved at least a 50% MADRS reduction after a median of two ECT treatments whereas ten propofol patients (83%) achieved the same outcome after a median of four ECT treatments. All ketamine patients and seven propofol patients (58%) achieved MDD remission (MADRS ≤ 10). Log rank tests showed that both time-to-50% reduction and remission differed significantly between groups. Adverse events and recovery time were similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this early-terminated small-sized study, ketamine-based anesthesia compared with propofol-based anesthesia provided response and remission after fewer ECT sessions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01935115). Registered 4 September 2013.

Mood instability as a precursor to depressive illness: A prospective and mediational analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Mood instability levels are high in depression, but temporal precedence and potential mechanisms are unknown. Hypotheses tested were as follows: (1) mood instability is associated with depression cross-sectionally, (2) mood instability predicts new onset and maintenance of depression prospectively and (3) the mood instability and depression link are mediated by sleep problems, alcohol abuse and life events. METHOD: Data from the National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2000 at baseline (N = 8580) and 18-month follow-up (N = 2413) were used. Regression modeling controlling for socio-demographic factors, anxiety and hypomanic mood was conducted. Multiple mediational analyses were used to test our conceptual path model. RESULTS: Mood instability was associated with depression cross-sectionally (odds ratio: 5.28; 95% confidence interval: [3.67, 7.59]; p < 0.001) and predicted depression inception (odds ratio: 2.43; 95% confidence interval: [1.03-5.76]; p = 0.042) after controlling for important confounders. Mood instability did not predict maintenance of depression. Sleep difficulties and severe problems with close friends and family significantly mediated the link between mood instability and new onset depression (23.05% and 6.19% of the link, respectively). Alcohol abuse and divorce were not important mediators in the model. CONCLUSION: Mood instability is a precursor of a depressive episode, predicting its onset. Difficulties in sleep are a significant part of the pathway. Interventions targeting mood instability and sleep problems have the potential to reduce the risk of depression.

Maintaining sleep and physical activity alleviate mood instability.

OBJECTIVE: Building on previous work indicating that mood instability is the hallmark of neuroticism, our aim was to examine whether changes in exercise, sleep duration and leisure predicted decreases in mood instability with time. METHODS: We used data from 3374 participants of the British Health and Lifestyle Study who answered the Eysenck Personality Inventory-Neuroticism subscale (EPI-N) and the General Health Questionnaire on two occasions 7 years apart. We predicted mood instability scores derived from the EPI-N at follow-up using self-reported changes in exercise, sleep duration and leisure hours between the two time points as independent variables. RESULTS: We confirmed the observation that mood instability decreases with age. Maintaining one's exercise at baseline level decreased mood instability (beta=-0.21) while sleeping less increased mood instability (beta=0.14). Change in leisure time was not independently related to mood instability after accounting for the two other lifestyle factors. CONCLUSION: Personality, at least with regard to mood instability, can be modified by lifestyle factors. Exercise and sleep support mood stability and could be important components of preventative mental health (as well as physical health) benefits.

Patterns of depression and treatment in pregnant and postpartum women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the course of depression and the effects of treatment during pregnancy and into the postpartum period. METHOD: This is a longitudinal study of a community sample of 649 pregnant women who were assessed in early pregnancy (17.4 ± 4.9 weeks), late pregnancy (30.6 ± 2.7 weeks), and postpartum (4.2 ± 2.1 weeks) with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Women who scored 12 or more on the EPDS were encouraged to seek assessment and treatment. We used generalized estimating equation modelling to determine the predicted mean depression scores, taking age, ethnicity, history of depression, and previous and present treatment status into account. RESULTS: The unadjusted prevalence of depression (EPDS ≥ 12) was 14.1% (n = 91) in early pregnancy, 10.4% (n = 62) in late pregnancy, and 8.1% (n = 48) postpartum. Twelve per cent of women were engaged in treatment. The predicted mean EPDS score decreased over the course of the pregnancy into the postpartum period, most significantly when women were engaged in counselling or taking psychotropic medication. Counselling was the more common method of treatment during pregnancy and medication in the postpartum period. Women who were depressed and untreated were more likely to be younger, more stressed, have less support, have a history of depression, and use alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that depressive symptoms improve over the course of the pregnancy into the postpartum period, particularly for women who receive treatment. Our study is unique as it takes the history of depression, present and past treatment status, and the longitudinal nature of the data into account.

Are pregnant and postpartum women moodier? Understanding perinatal mood instability.

OBJECTIVE: To better understand mood changes in pregnancy and postpartum, we studied mood instability in a group of perinatal women and in a group of normally menstruating non-pregnant women. METHODS: Perinatal women (n = 45) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 16 weeks' and 30 weeks' gestation and again at four weeks postpartum. Immediately after completing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, participants also completed mood diaries with separate visual analogue scales for depressed, irritable, anxious, and euphoric/activated moods. This was done twice daily for one week. A comparison group of 31 non-perinatal women without depression or premenstrual symptoms completed identical mood diaries for seven consecutive weeks. Mood instability was represented by the mean square successive difference statistic. RESULTS: Perinatal women showed higher mean levels of depressed, irritable, anxious, and high mood instability than the non-perinatal women. The findings held when pregnant women who were depressed were removed from the comparison, except that the difference in depressed mood instability was no longer significant. CONCLUSION: Wider fluctuation in mood in pregnant and postnatal women is consistent with the common belief that perinatal women are moodier than non-perinatal women.

Instability of Suicidal Ideation in Patients Hospitalized for Depression: An Exploratory Study Using Smartphone Ecological Momentary Assessment.

This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to explore the correlates of suicidal ideation (SI) instability in patients hospitalized for depression and SI. Thirty-nine adult inpatients were given smartphones with visual analogue scales to rate current depressed mood, anger/irritability, feeling socially connected, and SI three times a day throughout hospitalization. Affective Lability Scales (ALS) were also completed at baseline. SI instability was correlated with SI intensity, depressed mood instability, and social connection instability. Social connection instability was not associated with SI instability after controlling for depressed mood instability. ALS scores were not associated with EMA-derived SI instability. Participants with multiple past suicide attempts experienced greater SI instability. More research examining the clinical significance of SI instability is warranted.

Mood instability in women with premenstrual syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Most women of reproductive age experience premenstrual symptoms. Mood swings within a day and from day to day are a common complaint of people with mood problems (mood instability). We investigated whether mood instability was higher in women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) than in a control group with no PMS. METHODS: We prospectively studied mood and physical symptoms over two menstrual periods in 29 women with self-identified PMS and 31 women without PMS. We excluded women on hormonal birth control or with a history of past or current diagnoses of depression. We used the mean square successive difference derived from twice daily visual analogue scale ratings of mood as the measure of mood instability. RESULTS: The women with PMS showed more irritable and depressed mood instability than the women without PMS. These differences were present whether or not the late luteal phase (seven days before the start of menstruation) was included in the data. On visual inspection of mood ratings, typically irritable and depressed moods increased in the late luteal phase. However, women with self-identified PMS showed a variety of mood patterns throughout the cycle. CONCLUSION: Women with PMS have increased mood instability within the seven day premenstrual phase and at other times as well. This supports the premise that PMS may represent a manifestation of an underlying problem of mood dysregulation in common with other mood disorders.

Melancholic depression and response to quetiapine: A pooled analysis of four randomized placebo-controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Melancholic depression may preferentially respond to certain treatments. This study examined the efficacy of extended-release quetiapine monotherapy in patients with melancholic and nonmelancholic major depressive disorder. METHODS: Data from four randomized placebo-controlled trials was pooled. Melancholic features were assessed with baseline depression scale items according to DSM criteria. The outcome measure was response on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. Cox regression models predicting response over time with interactions between treatment condition and melancholic status were used to test for treatment effect heterogeneity. RESULTS: The 6-week response rate difference between quetiapine and placebo was roughly 10% greater in the melancholic subgroup, primarily due to a lower placebo response, although the subgroup-treatment interactions did not reach statistical significance. The main effect of quetiapine was significant in every model. LIMITATIONS: The main limitations were the retrospective analysis and the post-hoc designation of melancholic depression based on scale items not designed for that purpose. Results should be considered preliminary and exploratory until replicated. CONCLUSIONS: The lower placebo response rate in the melancholic subgroup is consistent with past research and reinforces the benefit of pharmacotherapy for these patients.

Mood instability across the perinatal period: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: As a trans-diagnostic concept, mood instability (MI) is significantly linked to a variety of psychiatric disorders in general and clinical samples. However, there is limited research on perinatal MI, even though perinatal women experience an elevated level of MI. In this study, we examined the relationship between perinatal MI and its risk factors, the association between antenatal MI and postpartum depression (PPD), and the trajectory of perinatal MI. METHODS: A total of 648 women participated in this longitudinal study at three points: T1 (17.4 ± 4.9 weeks pregnant), T2 (30.6 ± 2.7 weeks pregnant), and T3 (4.2 ± 2.1 weeks postpartum). Linear regression was used to examine MI and its risk factors, hierarchical multiple regression was utilized to investigate the relationship between antenatal MI and PPD, and a linear mixed model was employed to examine the trajectory of perinatal MI over T1-T3. RESULTS: Perinatal depression, history of depression, and stress at T1, T2, and T3, and labor/birth complications at T3 were significant risk factors for MI. MI at T1 was associated with PPD after controlling for important confounders at T1. The trajectory of perinatal MI had a declined trend from early pregnancy to postpartum. LIMITATIONS: The participants were predominantly Caucasian and with post-secondary education, which may limit the generalization of our findings. A lack of research on perinatal MI limited our ability to discuss the topic in relation to existing literature. CONCLUSIONS: This study expands our understanding of MI in perinatal women, and indicates that more research is needed.

Mood instability contributes to impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating/purging in people with anxiety disorders.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether mood instability in people with anxiety disorders contributes to trait impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating/purging. METHODS: Data were analysed from a general population sample of 7,221 adults (Mage  = 51.0 years; 56.9% female). Logistic regression analyses with effect decompositions were used to establish the associations of five anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder) with impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating/purging, and then to determine the extent that adding mood instability to each model reduced these relationships. RESULTS: Participants with an anxiety disorder were more likely to report impulsivity compared to participants without an anxiety disorder (ORs = 2.40-3.92, all p < .001), but these relationships reduced by 59-78% and became non-significant when mood instability was added to the models. Participants with an anxiety disorder were also more likely to report non-suicidal self-injury (ORs = 3.86-18.9, all p < .001) and binge eating/purging (ORs = 4.05-14.9, all p < .01); adding mood instability to the models reduced these relationships by at least 30%. CONCLUSIONS: Mood instability and impulsivity are common in people with anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are associated with impulsivity largely because of the association between mood instability and impulsivity. Mood instability may contribute to non-suicidal self-injury and binge eating/purging in people with anxiety disorders. Treatments for mood instability in addition to standard anxiety disorder treatment may reduce impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating/purging in people with anxiety disorders. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Many patients with anxiety disorders experience mood instability, which is associated with impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating/purging. Treating mood instability alongside anxiety may help reduce impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating/purging in people with anxiety disorders.

Nature of anxiety comorbid with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children from a pediatric primary care setting.

The clinical characteristics of children with comorbid anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD were examined. A sample of children from a pediatric primary care practice was assessed for anxiety disorders and ADHD. We defined four groups of children: (1) anxiety disorders only with no ADHD (n=54); (2) ADHD-only with no anxiety disorder (n=15); (3) neither ADHD nor an anxiety disorder (n=107); and (4) comorbid ADHD and anxiety disorder (n=14). Approximately 50% of children with ADHD had a comorbid anxiety disorder, and approximately 20% of children with an anxiety disorder had comorbid ADHD. The presence of comorbid ADHD and anxiety was associated with more attentional problems, school fears, and mood disorders and lower levels of social competence compared to children who had either ADHD-only or anxiety-only. Children with comorbid anxiety disorders and ADHD have more severe symptoms and are more impaired than children with either condition alone. Interventions need to be tailored to address the complexity of these comorbid conditions and their associated sequelae.

Neuroticism and suicide in a general population cohort: results from the UK Biobank Project.

BACKGROUND: Neuroticism has often been linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviour. AIMS: To examine whether neuroticism is associated with suicide deaths after adjusting for known risks. METHOD: UK Biobank participants (n = 389 365) were assessed for neuroticism as well as social, demographic and health-related variables at study entry and followed for up to 10 years. Suicide risk was modelled using Cox regression stratified by gender. RESULTS: Neuroticism increased the risk of suicide in both men (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.22) and women (HR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.06-1.27). In a subsample who were assessed for mood disorders, neuroticism remained a significant predictor for women (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.03-1.51) but not for men. CONCLUSIONS: Screening and therapeutic interventions for neuroticism may be important for early suicide prevention. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None.