Emotion regulation in euthymic bipolar patients in Tunisia

INTRODUCTION: Bipolar disorder is presumed to involve difficulties in emotion regulation. However, little is known about the specific emotion regulation profile associated with this disorder. OBJECTIVES: To study emotion regulation in bipolar patients in remission phase and to determine the factors correlated with it. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study of 30 patients followed for bipolar disorder in remission, at the psychiatric outpatient clinic at the Hédi Chaker University Hospital in Sfax. We used a socio-demographic and clinical data sheet and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) which assesses cognitive strategies (maladaptive and adaptive) for regulating emotion. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 43.77 years, the sex ratio was 0.5. Bipolar I disorder was diagnosed in 93% of patients. A good adherence to treatment was found in 86.7% of cases and a good social integration in 40%. The mean total score of the adaptive CERQ was 66.73 and the most used adaptive strategy was acceptation (mean score =13.87), while the mean total score of the maladaptive CERQ was 36.7 and the most used maladaptive strategy was self blame (mean score =9.47). Adaptive cognitive emotion regulation was predominant in 93.3% of patients. It was significantly correlated with good adherence to treatment (p = 0.047) and good social integration (p = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: Our patients with euthymic bipolar disorder showed a satisfying level of adaptive emotion regulation strategies. A cognitive remediation seems important to embetter this capacity and improve the income of the disease. DISCLOSURE: No significant relationships.