Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder
Background/Objectives: The understanding of the mechanisms involved in the etiopathogenesis and maintenance of Bipolar Disorder (BD) should be a priority to identify potential early clinical markers that could help in improving treatment strategies and prevention. The aim of this study was to invest...
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2025-06-01
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| author | Andrea Aguglia Tommaso Cerisola Martina Rimondotto Simona Iannini Francesco Bruni Francesca Bigiotti Alessandra Costanza Mario Amore Andrea Amerio Gianluca Serafini |
| author_facet | Andrea Aguglia Tommaso Cerisola Martina Rimondotto Simona Iannini Francesco Bruni Francesca Bigiotti Alessandra Costanza Mario Amore Andrea Amerio Gianluca Serafini |
| author_sort | Andrea Aguglia |
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| description | Background/Objectives: The understanding of the mechanisms involved in the etiopathogenesis and maintenance of Bipolar Disorder (BD) should be a priority to identify potential early clinical markers that could help in improving treatment strategies and prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential correlation between hopelessness, alexithymia, mind wandering, and rumination in patients with a primary diagnosis of BD, evaluating whether these psychopathological aspects could negatively affect bipolar illness. Methods: A semi-structured interview was used to collect sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Several psychometric tools were administered: the Beck Hopelessness Scale; Toronto Alexithymia Scale; Rumination Response Scale; Mind Wandering Questionnaire; Mind Wandering: Deliberate; Mind Wandering: Spontaneous; and the Daydreaming Frequency Scale. Results: Patients with high levels of hopelessness have a greater number of psychiatric and medical comorbidities and are more frequently on polypharmacotherapy. Additionally, patients with high levels of hopelessness show a greater likelihood of having attempted suicide during their lifetime. The presence of alexithymia is associated with longer hospitalization and psychiatric comorbidities. Higher levels of rumination correlate with a greater number of psychiatric and medical comorbidities, and with the presence of residual symptoms. Mind wandering is associated with the presence of medical comorbidities and residual symptoms. Conclusions: Hopelessness, alexithymia, mind wandering, and rumination should be identified as important proxies of impaired subjective well-being that should be carefully monitored because they could further worsen the clinical course of BD and suicidal risk in this vulnerable population. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bf53bb240c9143dc98c92e7e9052cabb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-bf53bb240c9143dc98c92e7e9052cabb2025-08-20T03:27:17ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252025-06-0115659610.3390/brainsci15060596Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar DisorderAndrea Aguglia0Tommaso Cerisola1Martina Rimondotto2Simona Iannini3Francesco Bruni4Francesca Bigiotti5Alessandra Costanza6Mario Amore7Andrea Amerio8Gianluca Serafini9Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva University (UNIGE), 24 Rue du General-Dufour, 1211 Geneva, SwitzerlandDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Largo Paolo Daneo 3, 16132 Genoa, ItalyBackground/Objectives: The understanding of the mechanisms involved in the etiopathogenesis and maintenance of Bipolar Disorder (BD) should be a priority to identify potential early clinical markers that could help in improving treatment strategies and prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential correlation between hopelessness, alexithymia, mind wandering, and rumination in patients with a primary diagnosis of BD, evaluating whether these psychopathological aspects could negatively affect bipolar illness. Methods: A semi-structured interview was used to collect sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Several psychometric tools were administered: the Beck Hopelessness Scale; Toronto Alexithymia Scale; Rumination Response Scale; Mind Wandering Questionnaire; Mind Wandering: Deliberate; Mind Wandering: Spontaneous; and the Daydreaming Frequency Scale. Results: Patients with high levels of hopelessness have a greater number of psychiatric and medical comorbidities and are more frequently on polypharmacotherapy. Additionally, patients with high levels of hopelessness show a greater likelihood of having attempted suicide during their lifetime. The presence of alexithymia is associated with longer hospitalization and psychiatric comorbidities. Higher levels of rumination correlate with a greater number of psychiatric and medical comorbidities, and with the presence of residual symptoms. Mind wandering is associated with the presence of medical comorbidities and residual symptoms. Conclusions: Hopelessness, alexithymia, mind wandering, and rumination should be identified as important proxies of impaired subjective well-being that should be carefully monitored because they could further worsen the clinical course of BD and suicidal risk in this vulnerable population.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/6/596bipolar disorderhopelessnesscomorbidityalexithymiaruminationmind wandering |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Aguglia Tommaso Cerisola Martina Rimondotto Simona Iannini Francesco Bruni Francesca Bigiotti Alessandra Costanza Mario Amore Andrea Amerio Gianluca Serafini Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder Brain Sciences bipolar disorder hopelessness comorbidity alexithymia rumination mind wandering |
| title | Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder |
| title_full | Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder |
| title_short | Investigating the Relationship Between Hopelessness, Alexithymia, Mind Wandering, Rumination, and Clinical Features in Patients with Bipolar Disorder |
| title_sort | investigating the relationship between hopelessness alexithymia mind wandering rumination and clinical features in patients with bipolar disorder |
| topic | bipolar disorder hopelessness comorbidity alexithymia rumination mind wandering |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/6/596 |
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