Stefan Winblad

Irritability, anger, and impulsivity have important associations with psychological well-being. However, studying the internal relationships between such emotional constructs is challenging, largely because of the lack of precise operational definitions and extensively validated measurement tools. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between the above emotional constructs and how they relate to satisfaction with life and perceived negative impact on different life domains. Participants (N = 471) completed a self-report questionnaire online. Correlational analyses showed that higher levels of irritability and trait anger were associated with lower life satisfaction. Impulsivity displayed complex relationships with life satisfaction, with some aspects (sensation seeking) showing a positive relationship and others (urgency, lack of perseverance) showing a negative relationship. A two-factor Confirmatory Factor Analysis treating irritability and anger as separate constructs showed a better fit compared with a one-factor model, indicating that irritability and anger should be treated as separate constructs. An exploratory moderation analysis showed that higher irritability predicted increased anger only for participants scoring average to high on urgency (a facet of impulsivity). Our findings increase the understanding of the relationship between these dispositional constructs and supports the conceptualization of irritability and anger as related but distinct constructs.

A rapid stream of research confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat to mental health and psychological well-being. It is therefore important to identify both hazardous and protective individual factors during the pandemic. The current research exaplored the relationships between self-reported affective responding, perceived personal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subjective well-being. An online survey (N = 471) conducted in Sweden between June and September, 2020, showed that higher levels of irritability, impulsivity, and the tendency to experience and express anger were generally associated with more severe personal consequences of the pandemic, particularly in areas related to family life, work/study, and finances. While more severe impacts of the pandemic in these areas of life were directly associated with lower subjective well-being, emotion regulation through cognitive reappraisal appeared to moderate the extent to which consequences of the pandemic in other areas of life (i.e., social, free-time and physical activities) translated into decreased well-being. This suggests that cognitive reappraisal may serve to protect against some of the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Overall, the results indicate that the perceived consequences of the pandemic are multifaceted and that future research should examine these consequences using a multidimensional approach.

The aim of this study was to explore perceived fatigue, experienced functional limitations due to fatigue and clinical correlates in patients with Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1). In total, 32 consecutive patients with DM1 (14 women and 18 men) and 30 sex, age and education matched healthy control subjects participated. Perceived fatigue was rated on the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS). Patients also completed a set of assessments aimed to characterize CTG-repeat size, muscle impairment, depression and cognitive functions. Non-parametric analysis were performed as appropriate, including Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman correlation test. DM1 patients had higher FIS total score than healthy controls, suggesting higher fatigue levels. More specifically, DM1 patients scored higher on the FIS physical and psychosocial subscales than controls but not on the FIS cognitive scale. Scores on fatigue correlated significantly with muscle impairment and depression. Perceived fatigue is significantly more common in patients with DM1 than in healthy controls. Higher ratings on depression and muscle impairment were associated with the condition. This indicates that both depression and muscle impairment may contribute to the experience of fatigue in DM1.

Background and purpose: Studies on cognitive decline in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) are characterized by conflicting results. The purpose of the present study was to analyse possible decline in classical/adult onset DM1 at a 5‐year follow‐up and to explore the correlation with disease‐related and demographic factors.Methods: Patients with DM1 (n = 37) were examined with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery yielding measures on memory, attention, verbal, visuospatial and executive functions. Assessment of muscle impairment and CTG repeat expansion size was performed.Results: A majority of the participants (65%) performed worse at follow‐up. Compared to normative data, patients scored significantly worse on tests measuring memory, attention, visuospatial construction and verbal ability. Neither CTG repeat size nor muscle impairment related to cognitive decline. However, age at onset and disease duration were correlated with the number of tests in which performance was below 1 SD at both baseline and follow‐up examination.Conclusions: Measurements show that classical/adult onset DM1 is characterized by cognitive decline. Both earlier onset and longer duration of the disease are indicative of more cognitive deficits.

To evaluate facial memory ability (FMA) in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). We also explored the relationship between FMA and neuropsychological data, disease-related factors, and CTG repeat expansion size. Patients with DM1 (n = 33) and healthy subjects (n = 30) were tested with the faces task of the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test - Extended version (RBMT-E) and an additional set of neuropsychological tests. Clinical data were collected, and CTG repeat size was quantified in blood lymphocytes. Low results on the faces task were more common in patients with DM1 compared with healthy subjects (P < 0.05), with 36% of the patients showing a poor/impaired performance. DM1 patients with deficits in FMA performed significantly worse on tests measuring visual-construction ability and memory. Furthermore, these patients more often falsely recognised unknown faces as known. Deficits in FMA were not associated with any disease-related factor, including CTG repeat expansion size. These findings revealed deficits in FMA in the DM1 group, which was associated with reduced construction- and visual memory ability.