Abstract
The course of bipolar disorder (BD) is influenced by several factors. Experiential avoidance (EA) and positive rumination (PR) are two constructs whose presence and impact on BD have been studied to a limited extent. EA refers to not wanting to face one's own experiences, e.g. emotions, thoughts, bodily sensations. In this case, one will take action to reduce, change or avoid these experiences, despite negative consequences (Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, & Follette, 1996; Hayes et al., 2004). In PR, people will respond to positive affect with thoughts about their own positive experiences, traits or life circumstances (Feldman, Joormann, & Johnson, 2007). In the present longitudinal study, patients are compared to healthy controls in terms of presence of PR and EA. The antecedents of EA are examined, as well as the relationship between EA and PR. Possible negative consequences of EA and PR, such as duration of mood disturbance and current psychological and somatic symptoms are also investigated.
Researcher(s)
Research team(s)
Project type(s)