Published online Jul 19, 2022. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i7.929
Peer-review started: December 20, 2021
First decision: March 13, 2022
Revised: March 27, 2022
Accepted: June 23, 2022
Article in press: June 23, 2022
Published online: July 19, 2022
Processing time: 210 Days and 15.2 Hours
Believing, or “credition,” refers to psychological processes that integrate the cognitions and emotions influencing our behavior. Angel and Seitz created a model consisting of four credition parameters: proposition, certainty, emotion and mightiness. Believing processes are postulated to be influenced by external or environmental circumstances, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
As empirical evidence about believing processes is lacking, studies examining this field of research are needed. Investigating credition during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, will hopefully provide valuable insight into the mind of individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) and might be able to offer implications for treatment.
The purpose of this study was to explore credition in individuals with BD as well as healthy controls (HC) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Euthymic individuals with BD (n = 52) and age- and sex matched HC (n = 52) from Austria participated in an online survey taking place from April 9th to June 4th, 2020. The following questionnaires were completed: Brief Symptom Inventory-18, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a Believing Questionnaire assessing four parameters of credition (proposition, certainty, emotion and mightiness). The MAXQDA software was used to analyze data about believing processes. Statistical analyses included analyses of variance, a multivariate analysis of variance and a multivariate analysis of co-variance.
Individuals with BD showed significantly more negative propositions and negative emotions, whereas HC reported significantly more positive propositions and emotions. Moreover, individuals with BD showed a higher incongruence between their propositions and emotions. Positive as well as negative emotions and propositions were associated with scores measuring symptoms of depression, anxiety and sleep quality.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, believing parameters were associated with psychiatric symptoms in BD and differed from HC. Results demonstrate the sensitivity of believing processes to external influences in individuals with BD.
Believing processes should be further examined in future studies, especially regarding cognitive treatment approaches in psychotherapy.