The relationship neurological soft signs, circadian preferences and emotion regulation difficulties in bipolar disorder patients and their first degree relatives

This study was performed to investigate the relationship between faint neurological soft signs, circadian preferences, and emotion regulation difficulties in bipolar disorder patients and their first degree relatives. 35 bipolar disorder patients who applied to the Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic of Dursun Odabas Medical Center of Yuzuncu Yil University and met the study criteria were included in this study and a total of 70 healthy volunteers, 35 of whom were first degree relatives and other 35 were control group, were participated in. Socio-Demographic Information Form, Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Morning-Evening Questionnaire (MEQ), Difficulty of Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES) were performed to patients, first degree relatives and control group.The euthymic criteria were defined as having a score of 7 or less on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and a score of 5 or less on the Young Mania Rating Scale. As a result of the study, it was found out that the mean scores of motor coordination, complex motor movements, other NSS and total NSS mean scores of the patients and their relatives were significantly higher than the control group. Also, it was seen that the mean NSS score of patients with psychotic depression in bipolar patients was significantly higher than the mean score of patients without psychotic depression. It was determined that the rejection, goals, impulse, strategies, clarity and total DERS scores of the patients were significantly higher than the relatives and control group and there was a statistically positive, weak and significant relationship between the impulse and awareness in the NSS sub-dimensions of the bipolar patients and other NSS and emotion regulation sub-dimensions. There were following signs between NSS and Emotional Regulation in relatives of patient; there was a positive and significant relationship between Emotional Regulation Questionnaire and emotional integration and complex motor movements. There was a positive, weak and significant relationship between rejection in emotion regulation sub-dimensions and complex motor movements in NSS sub-dimensions. There was a positive, weak and significant relationship between awareness and emotional integration in the control group. When it was evaluated between NSS and MEQ groups; the mean score of complex motor movements was higher in the intermediate type bipolar patients than the morning type bipolar patients. The NSS total score and the other mean scores of the morning type in the patient relatives group were found to be higher than the intermediate type relatives. In the control group, the mean score of strategies of the intermediate type was significantly higher than the mean score of the morning type. Consequently, even in the euthymic period, bipolar disorder and relatives of first-degree patients have difficulty in regulating emotions, and difficulty of emotion regulation and faint neurological soft signs are associated with negative emotion regulation strategies. Also, there is a correlation between neurological soft signs and negative emotion regulation strategies. Circadian preferences in bipolar patients were significantly correlated with diminished neurological soft signs and emotion regulation strategies. Keywords; Bipolar disorder, neurological soft signs, circadian preferences, emotion regulation.