Mood fluctuations in people putatively at risk for bipolar disorders.

Objectives: The dysregulation of the Behavioural Activation System (BAS) is discussed as a vulnerability marker for bipolar disorders, resulting in fluctuations of activity and mood. People putatively at risk for bipolar disorders (BD) should therefore show mood fluctuations.

Method: Using the "Hypomanic Personality Scale" (HPS) three groups of young adults with high (N=17), medium (N=19), and low scores (N=18) were selected and completed a 28-day diary including CES-D and PANAS.

Assessing the dysregulation of the Behavioral Activation System: the Hypomanic Personality Scale and the BIS-BAS scales.

We discuss the Hypomanic Personality Scale (Hyp; Eckblad & Chapman, 1986) and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS-BAS; Carver & White, 1994) and Behavioral Activation System (BAS; Gray, 1991) Scales as risk factors for bipolar disorders. The dysregulation of the BAS is considered to be central and results in higher variability in mood. Therefore, we examined how those scales are associated with mood fluctuations.