Piyumi Kahawage1, Ben Bullock1, Denny Meyer1, John Gottlieb2, Marie Crowe3, Holly A Swartz4, Lakshmi N Yatham5, Maree Inder3, Richard J Porter3, Andrew A Nierenberg6, Ybe Meesters7, Marijke Gordijn8, Bartholomeus C M Haarman7, Greg Murray1. 1. Centre for Mental Health, 3783Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. 2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, 12244Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. 3. Department of Psychological Medicine, 2494University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. 4. Department of Psychiatry, 6614University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry, 8166University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 6. Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation, 2348Massachusetts General Hospital, 1811Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 7. Department of Psychiatry Groningen, 3647University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. 8. Chrono@Work & Chronobiology Unit, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Societal restrictions imposed to prevent transmission of COVID-19 may challenge circadian-driven lifestyle behaviours, particularly amongst those vulnerable to mood disorders. The overarching aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that, in the routine-disrupted environment of the COVID-19, amongst a sample of people living with mood disorders, greater social rhythm disruption would be associated with more severe mood symptoms. METHODS: We conducted a two-wave, multinational survey of 997 participants (MAge=39.75±13.39,Female=81.6%) who self-reported a mood disorder diagnosis (i.e., major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder). Respondents completed questionnaires assessing demographics, social rhythmicity (The Brief Social Rhythm Scale), depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), sleep quality and diurnal preference (The Sleep, Circadian Rhythms and Mood questionnaire) and stressful life events during the COVID-19 pandemic (The Social Readjustment Rating Scale). RESULTS: The majority of participants indicated COVID-19-related social disruption had affected the regularity of their daily routines to at least some extent (n = 788, 79.1%). As hypothesised, lower social rhythmicity was associated with greater depressive symptoms when tested cross-sectionally (standardised β = -.25, t = -7.94, P = 0.000) and when tested using a 2-level hierarchical linear model across two time points (b = -0.14, t = -3.46, df = 264, P ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the social zeitgeber hypothesis proposing that mood disorders are sensitive to life events that disrupt social rhythms.
OBJECTIVES: Societal restrictions imposed to prevent transmission of COVID-19 may challenge circadian-driven lifestyle behaviours, particularly amongst those vulnerable to mood disorders. The overarching aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that, in the routine-disrupted environment of the COVID-19, amongst a sample of people living with mood disorders, greater social rhythm disruption would be associated with more severe mood symptoms. METHODS: We conducted a two-wave, multinational survey of 997 participants (MAge=39.75±13.39,Female=81.6%) who self-reported a mood disorder diagnosis (i.e., major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder). Respondents completed questionnaires assessing demographics, social rhythmicity (The Brief Social Rhythm Scale), depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), sleep quality and diurnal preference (The Sleep, Circadian Rhythms and Mood questionnaire) and stressful life events during the COVID-19 pandemic (The Social Readjustment Rating Scale). RESULTS: The majority of participants indicated COVID-19-related social disruption had affected the regularity of their daily routines to at least some extent (n = 788, 79.1%). As hypothesised, lower social rhythmicity was associated with greater depressive symptoms when tested cross-sectionally (standardised β = -.25, t = -7.94, P = 0.000) and when tested using a 2-level hierarchical linear model across two time points (b = -0.14, t = -3.46, df = 264, P ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the social zeitgeber hypothesis proposing that mood disorders are sensitive to life events that disrupt social rhythms.
Authors: Thomas Hale; Noam Angrist; Rafael Goldszmidt; Beatriz Kira; Anna Petherick; Toby Phillips; Samuel Webster; Emily Cameron-Blake; Laura Hallas; Saptarshi Majumdar; Helen Tatlow Journal: Nat Hum Behav Date: 2021-03-08
Authors: Greg Murray; John Gottlieb; Maria Paz Hidalgo; Bruno Etain; Philipp Ritter; Debra J Skene; Corrado Garbazza; Ben Bullock; Kathleen Merikangas; Vadim Zipunnikov; Haochang Shou; Robert Gonzalez; Jan Scott; Pierre A Geoffroy; Benicio N Frey Journal: Bipolar Disord Date: 2020-07-05 Impact factor: 6.744