Experiential Avoidance and Mood State in Bipolar Disorder

Experiential avoidance (EA) has been linked to various negative psychological outcomes and is believed to play a key role in many forms of psychopathology. While EA has been studied in the context of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other diagnoses, this study is the first to investigate the role of EA in bipolar disorder (BD). Eight participants in treatment for BD answered questions about mood state and EA twice per day for 60 days, using an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design. Within-person hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that EA was negatively correlated with mood. Although EA did not predict subsequent mood, the reverse was true; EA increased following reports of blunted positive mood. Clinical implications, study limitations, and future research directions are discussed.