Predominant polarity and temperament in bipolar and unipolar affective disorders.

Abstract Introduction Recently, the concept of predominant polarity (two-thirds of episodes belonging to a single pole of the illness) has been introduced to further characterise subtypes of bipolar disorders. This concept has been proven to have diagnostic and therapeutic implications, but little is known on the underlying psychopathology and temperaments. With this study, we aimed to further validate the concept and explore its relationships with temperament. Methods This study enrolled 143 patients with bipolar or unipolar disorder. We analysed predominant polarity in the sample of bipolar I patients (N = 124), focussing on those who showed a clear predominance for one or the other polar…