title: Affective temperaments and hopelessness as predictors of health and social functioning in mood disorder patients: a prospective follow-up study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Affective disorders are highly disabling illnesses constituting a significant burden for the patients, their family and the society. Therefore, it would be very useful to find tools which carefully subtype these conditions and have a strong and reliable predictive power concerning the course of illness and health and social functioning. To date, the role of hopelessness and affective temperaments in the prediction of health and social functioning and the course of affective disorders has not been studied. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess whether affective temperaments and hopelessness, measured during hospitalization, can be useful in the prediction of global functioning (the severity of the illness and the presence and severity of psychosocial problems) at follow-up in inpatients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder (BD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were 96 consecutive patients admitted to the inpatient psychiatric clinic of Sant'Andrea Hospital between January 2009 and December 2010. All patients completed the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale on admission. They were contacted on average 14 months after discharge and were asked to complete a telephone interview based on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two patients committed suicide before the follow-up assessment. Around 77% of the patients who completed the follow-up assessment were diagnosed as BD, and around 47% reported severe hopelessness. In the multivariate analyses, a factor derived from hopelessness and hyperthymia scores and unemployment, independently predicted severity of the illness and psychosocial functioning at the follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Screening for the affective temperament profile and for hopelessness has importance for designing the treatment and rehabilitation plans of affective disorder patients, as these variables are involved in the course and outcome of affective disorder patients and influence their health and social functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. maurizio.pompili@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Innamorati
authors.forename: Xenia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gonda
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Serafini
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarno
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Erbuto
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palermo
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elena Seretti
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perugi
authors.forename: Hagop
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akiskal
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siracusano
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rihmer
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tatarelli
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D065026:Hope; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013694:Temperament
keywords: Affective temperaments; Health and social functioning; Hopelessness; Major mood disorders