The Mediating Role of Time Perspective in the Relationship between Chronotype and Suicide in Bipolar Disorder

Time matters for mental health: a systematic review of quantitative studies on time perspective in psychiatric populations

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The ability to perform mental time travels and to develop representations of the past, the present, and the future is one of the distinctive capacities of the human mind. Despite its pronounced consequences for motivation, cognition, affect, and subjective well being, time perspective (TP) has been outside mainstream psychiatry and clinical psychology. We highlight the role of psychological-temporal phenomena in various disorders and summarize the current research on TP and psychopathology.

RECENT FINDINGS

Our review ultimately comprised 21 articles, including 18 unique datasets. It revealed that persons with different psychiatric diagnoses (attention defict hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), alcohol dependence, anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia) display different temporal profiles than control groups. We also found marked associations between temporal features and psychiatric symptom severity. The effects of specific TPs vary across different psychiatric diagnoses and to some extent between various age groups, with a consistent, widespread, and nonspecific effect of past-negative and less balanced, inflexible TP profile.

SUMMARY

Based on the review, TP biases are crucial factors in symptom development, while adaptive temporal profiles can serve as protective features against mental disorders. Understanding cognitive-temporal processes can enhance comprehension of psychopathological conditions and facilitate the development of temporality-focused clinical interventions.

The Types of Psychosocial Factors Associated with Suicidality Outcomes for People Living with Bipolar Disorder: A Scoping Review

Bipolar Disorder is associated with high rates of suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and outcomes, yet the lived experience of suicidality and Bipolar Disorder is not particularly well understood. Understanding the role of psychosocial aetiologies in suicidality outcomes for those living with Bipolar Disorder is key for developing appropriately targeted interventions focusing on factors that are amenable to change. In line with PRISMA guidance, we conducted a scoping review to identify the types of psychosocial factors studied in relation to the experience of suicidality for people living with Bipolar Disorder diagnoses. Systematic literature searches identified a sample of 166 articles from which key study data were extracted and charted. A narrative synthesis of the reviewed literature is presented ordered by the factors investigated across studies, a frequency count of the types of psychological/social aetiologies studied, and a brief overview of the key findings for each aetiology. Most of the identified literature took the form of quantitative cross-sectional studies, with only one qualitative study and 18 quantitative prospective studies. The most studied aetiologies were trauma (specifically early adverse experiences and childhood traumas) and stressful life events, impulsivity (primarily subjective self-reported trait impulsivity), social support and functioning, and personality/temperament factors. Only six studies in the final sample reported basing their research questions and/or hypotheses on an explicit theoretical model of suicide. The literature was primarily focused on using self-report measurements of key aetiologies and on factors which lead to worsened suicidality rather than focusing on potentially protective or buffering factors. Future research needs to better justify the aetiologies investigated in relation to suicidality outcomes for people living with Bipolar Disorder, including a firmer basis in theory and hypothesis testing, more prospective designs, and the use of alternative assessments of psychosocial aetiologies in addition to self-report questionnaires.

Time Balance and Family Functioning: The Role of Time Perspective in the Cohesion and Adaptability of Families with Adolescents

Family functioning, understood as cohesion and adaptability, is critical in families with adolescent children, given the changes that this stage implies at the family level. Time perspective is one variable that can facilitate better family functioning through the way people give meaning to the process they live. In this study, we examined the relationship between family functioning and the time perspective of adolescent children's parents. The FACES IV and ZTPI were administered to 276 parents of adolescents. Regression analyses indicated that the past positive, past negative, and future scores predicted family cohesion and adaptability, explaining at least 20% of the variance. Balanced families, with greater cohesion and adaptability, presented a higher level of past positive and future-oriented temporal perspectives, compared to unbalanced families, which presented a greater orientation to the past negative and deviated from the balanced temporal profile. The importance of considering the inter-relationship between family functioning and time perspective was discussed, considering its impact on the health and well-being of families with adolescents.