Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry

Objectives : The current study investigated the putative relationship between chronotype and suicidality or bipolarity in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Method : Nineteen outpatients who met the criteria for MDD according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-text revision were recruited for the current study. The subjects were divided into two subgroups based on their Basic Language Morningness (BALM) scores (dichotomized according to the median BALM score). The Loudness Dependence of Auditory Evoked Potentials (LDAEP) was evaluated by measuring the auditory event-related potentials before beginning medication with serotonergic agents. In addition, K-Mood Disorder Questionaire (K-MDQ), Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) were applied.

Results : The K-MDQ, BSS, BHS, BIS score was higher for the eveningness group than for the morningness group. However, the LDAEP, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Scale scores did not differ significantly between them. There were negative correlations between the total BALM score and the total K-MDQ, BSS, and BHS scores (r = -0.64 and p = 0.0033, r = -0.61 and p = 0.0055, and r = -0.72 and p = 0.00056, respectively).

Conclusions : Depressed patients with eveningness are more vulnerable to the suicidality than those with morningness. Eveningness is also associated with bipolarity.

Keywords Chronotype;LDAEP;Major depressive disorder;Bipolarity;Bipolar spectrum disorder.