P20: Perceived cognitive failures, symptoms of bipolar disorder, and psychological well-being

Abstract

Introduction: Young and older adults with bipolar disorder (BD) commonly present with cognitive deficits. Many also report subjective or perceived cognitive failures.

Objectives: For this study, we identified four distinct clusters of adults with BD on the basis of both BD symptoms (depression and hypo/mania) and perceived cognitive errors (i.e., forgetfulness, distractibility, false triggering). We hypothesized that participants reporting more BD symptoms and cognitive errors would report lower psychological well-being (i.e., self-efficacy, life scheme, life satisfaction).

Methods: From the BADAS (Bipolar Affective Disorder and older Adults) Study, we identified 281 adults with BD (M = 44.27 years of age, range 19–81), recruited via micro-targeted social media advertising (vs. mass marketing to general samples). All clusters significantly differed across all grouping variables except symptoms of hypo/mania due to low frequency.

Results: Across clusters, perceived cognitive failures and BD symptoms increased in lockstep; that is, those reporting more cognitive errors also reported significantly higher symptoms of both depression and hypo/mania. As hypothesized, they also reported significantly lower psychological well-being.

Conclusions: Of note, age did not significantly differ across clusters in contrast to existing research in which cognition is Objectivesly measured. That is, perceived cognitive errors are significantly associated with lower psychological well-being for both young and older adults with BD.