Emotional cognition subgroups in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with mood disorders
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Emotional cognition subgroups in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with mood disorders. / Kjærstad, Hanne Lie; Varo, Cristina; Meluken, Iselin; Vieta, Eduard; Vinberg, Maj; Kessing, Lars Vedel; Miskowiak, Kamilla Woznica.
In: Psychological Medicine, Vol. 53, No. 6, 2023, p. 2328-2338.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Emotional cognition subgroups in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with mood disorders
AU - Kjærstad, Hanne Lie
AU - Varo, Cristina
AU - Meluken, Iselin
AU - Vieta, Eduard
AU - Vinberg, Maj
AU - Kessing, Lars Vedel
AU - Miskowiak, Kamilla Woznica
N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) exhibit difficulties with emotional cognition even during remission. There is evidence for aberrant emotional cognition in unaffected relatives of patients with these mood disorders, but studies are conflicting. We aimed to investigate whether emotional cognition in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with mood disorders is characterised by heterogeneity using a data-driven approach. Methods Data from 94 unaffected relatives (33 of MDD patients; 61 of BD patients) and 203 healthy controls were pooled from two cohort studies. Emotional cognition was assessed with the Social Scenarios Test, Facial Expression Recognition Test and Faces Dot-Probe Test. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted using emotional cognition data from the 94 unaffected relatives. The resulting emotional cognition clusters and controls were compared for emotional and non-emotional cognition, demographic characteristics and functioning. Results Two distinct clusters of unaffected relatives were identified: a relatively 'emotionally preserved' cluster (55%; 40% relatives of MDD probands) and an 'emotionally blunted' cluster (45%; 29% relatives of MDD probands). 'Emotionally blunted' relatives presented with poorer neurocognitive performance (global cognition p = 0.010), heightened subsyndromal mania symptoms (p = 0.004), lower years of education (p = 0.004) and difficulties with interpersonal functioning (p = 0.005) than controls, whereas 'emotionally preserved' relatives were comparable to controls on these measures. Conclusions Our findings show discrete emotional cognition profiles that occur across healthy first-degree relatives of patients with MDD and BD. These emotional cognition clusters may provide insight into emotional cognitive markers of genetically distinct subgroups of individuals at familial risk of mood disorders.
AB - Background Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) exhibit difficulties with emotional cognition even during remission. There is evidence for aberrant emotional cognition in unaffected relatives of patients with these mood disorders, but studies are conflicting. We aimed to investigate whether emotional cognition in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with mood disorders is characterised by heterogeneity using a data-driven approach. Methods Data from 94 unaffected relatives (33 of MDD patients; 61 of BD patients) and 203 healthy controls were pooled from two cohort studies. Emotional cognition was assessed with the Social Scenarios Test, Facial Expression Recognition Test and Faces Dot-Probe Test. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted using emotional cognition data from the 94 unaffected relatives. The resulting emotional cognition clusters and controls were compared for emotional and non-emotional cognition, demographic characteristics and functioning. Results Two distinct clusters of unaffected relatives were identified: a relatively 'emotionally preserved' cluster (55%; 40% relatives of MDD probands) and an 'emotionally blunted' cluster (45%; 29% relatives of MDD probands). 'Emotionally blunted' relatives presented with poorer neurocognitive performance (global cognition p = 0.010), heightened subsyndromal mania symptoms (p = 0.004), lower years of education (p = 0.004) and difficulties with interpersonal functioning (p = 0.005) than controls, whereas 'emotionally preserved' relatives were comparable to controls on these measures. Conclusions Our findings show discrete emotional cognition profiles that occur across healthy first-degree relatives of patients with MDD and BD. These emotional cognition clusters may provide insight into emotional cognitive markers of genetically distinct subgroups of individuals at familial risk of mood disorders.
KW - Cluster-analysis
KW - emotional cognition
KW - emotional processing
KW - emotional regulation
KW - endophenotype
KW - mood disorders
KW - relatives
KW - resilience
KW - risk
U2 - 10.1017/S0033291721004165
DO - 10.1017/S0033291721004165
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37310310
AN - SCOPUS:85118312669
VL - 53
SP - 2328
EP - 2338
JO - Psychological Medicine
JF - Psychological Medicine
SN - 0033-2917
IS - 6
ER -
ID: 363361143