• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.153-160
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• 2010

Objectives : Recurrence of mood episodes associated with a specific season has been described in various mood disorders. Seasonal change in mood and behavior as a lifetime trait is also observed in healthy individuals. This study aimed at comparing the lifetime trait of seasonal variations of mood and behavior between bipolar disorder patients and controls as well as investigating associated factors of seasonality. Methods : Subjects were ninety-four clinically stable patients with bipolar disorder and 188 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Seasonality of mood and behavior was assessed retrospectively on lifetime basis using Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire(SPAQ). Results : The patient group showed a higher median global seasonality score(GSS) of SPAQ and a higher rate of seasonal affective disorder(SAD) compared to the control group(p < 0.0001). For subjects showing prominent seasonality, the seasonal symptom profile and seasonal pattern was similar in both patient and control groups. In addition to the diagnosis, female gender was shown to be a predictor of seasonality in the multiple linear regression analysis(p = 0.045). Conclusion : This study suggests that lifetime trait of seasonality may be related to the susceptibility of bipolar disorder.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2006

Circadian rhythms have been observed to be disturbed in mood disorders, especially seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Clock related gene variants also have been suggested to be associated with seasonality (seasonal variations in mood and behavior). This study tested the potential association between a length polymorphism of Period3 gene and seasonal variations in mood and behavior. 297 Korean college students were genotyped for the Period3 polymorphism and were for evaluated the seasonal variation by Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). The genotype frequencies were 0.76 for 4R/4R, 0.22 for 4R/5R and 0.013 for 5R/5R. The global seasonality score was not different among Period3 gene variants (4R/4R, 4R/5R and 5R/5R) except for 'sleep length' subscore. The 5R/5R genotype showed the higher 'sleep length' subscore than others (p=0.024). The comparison between seasonals (syndromal plus subsyndromal SAD determined by SPAQ) and non-seasonals did not show any significant difference in frequencies of genotypes. These findings suggest that there is a possibility that the investigated Period3 polymorphism may play a partial role in the susceptibility of seasonal variations in a Korean population.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2007

Objectives : Recently, many authors investigated the relation of temperament and character to seasonality and the genetic factors in seasonality and personality. In this study, we investigated the relation between personality structure obtained from the psychobiological Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and self-reported seasonal variations in mood and behavior measured by the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Methods : 600 high-school students who live in Seoul of Korea, were participated in this study. Subjects were surveyed with the Korean translation of the SPAQ of Rosenthal, an instrument for investigating mood and behavioral changes with respect to the seasons of the you. Korean version of the TCI of Cloninger was also used for assessment of personality. Results : Female students were significantly higher scores on harm avoidance, reward dependence, and cooperativeness than male students who had significant higher scores on persistence and self·transcendence than the formers. GSS were showed positive correlation with harm avoidance and self-transcendence, and negative correlation with cooperativeness and self-directedness. By employing logistic regressions, the regression coefficients of SAD were significantly negative in SD, and positive in ST. Also, the regression coefficients of S-SAD were significantly negative in CO, and positive in ST. Those with GSS at least 11 were significantly higher mean ST values compared to the remaining individuals, and those with worst in winter were significantly lower mean CO values compared to the remaining individuals. Those who considered the seasonality as a problem at least to a moderate degree were associated with high HA and ST. Conclusion : We add the evidence that the seasonality is related to the temperament and character. Although there have been many reports about the seasonality in relation to the temperament and character in foreign countries, there has been very limited report from Korea before. We hope that this result would be a helpful in the clinical field in Korea.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2007

Objectives: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism has been reported to be associated with depression and therapeutic outcome in depression. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ACE gene polymorphism is associated with seasonal variation in mood and behavior in a young Korean college student sample. Methods: 297 young Korean medical students were recruited in this study. All subjects were free of major medical and psychiatric problems. They were genotyped for the ACE gene polymorphism and evaluated the seasonal variation in mood and behavior by the Seasonality Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Results: Global Seasonality Score (GSS) of SPAQ between three genotypes were not different. However, comparison of the group that showed seasonality of mood and behavior during winter with the group that did not showed seasonality indicated significant difference in genotype distribution ($x^2=6.79$, p=0.034). The D allele non-carrier (ll genotype) frequency was significantly higher in winter seasonality group than non-seasonality group ($x^2=6.59$, p=0.010；odds ratio [OR]=2.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20-4.28). Conclusion: These results suggest that the ACE gene polymorphism is related to winter-type seasonality in a Korean population.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2005

Objectives: Although many reports have been written on seasonal variations in mood and behavior in foreign countries, few reports have dealt with Korean adolescents, except medical students. The goal of this study was to estimate the frequency of seasonal variations in mood and behavior among Korean high school students. Methods: A total of 656 high school students living in southeastern Seoul participated in this study. The subjects were investigated with the Korean translated version of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), and their responses were evaluated for seasonal patterns in mood and behavior change according to Kasper's criteria to make SAD (seasonal affective disorder) or SSAD (subclinical seasonal affective disorder) diagnosis. Results: A total of 565 subjects completed the questionnaire and the responses (M：F=324：241) were collected and used for analysis. The mean age was 16.73 (SD=0.65) years, and mean global seasonality score 5.88 (SD=4.72). Of the respondents, 413 (73.1%) reported problems related with seasonal changes. Total prevalence rates were 13.6% for SAD, 10.8% for S-SAD. The estimated frequencies were 5.1% for summer SAD, 3.2% for summer S-SAD, 0.5% for winter SAD and 1.1% for winter S-SAD. The prevalence rate of summer SAD or S-SAD was higher than winter SAD or S-SAD. Conclusion: The subjects showed a higher prevalence rate of summer type than winter type in SAD or S-SAD. These results were similar to those of other studies carried out in East Asian countries. However, the unpleasant feelings resulting from high temperature and humidity in summer rather than depression may have influenced the results. Therefore, it is necessary to make new SAD criteria of the SPAQ suitable for East Asian countries.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2013

Objectives: Several evidence has been suggested that the circadian gene variants contribute to the pathogenesis of seasonal affective disorder. In this study, we aimed to investigate the polymorphism in RORA (Retinoid-related orphan receptor A) gene in relation to seasonal variations among healthy young adults in Seoul, Korea. Methods: A total of 507 young healthy adult subjects were recruited by advertisement. Seasonal variations were assessed by the Seasonality Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Single-nucleotide polymorphism in the RORA rs11071547 gene was genotyped by PCR in 507 individuals. Considering summer type as confounding factor, we conducted analysis 478 subjects except 29 subjects of summer type. The Chi-square test was conducted to compare differences between groups of seasonals and non-seasonals. Association between genotypes and Global Seasonality Score (GSS) were tested using ANCOVA (Analysis of covariance). Results: In this sample, the prevalence of SAD was 12.1% (winter type 9.3%, summer type 2.8%). There is no significant difference in genotyping distribution of RORA rs11071547 between groups of seasonals and non-seasonals. Global seasonality score (GSS) and scores of all subscales except body weight and appetite were not significantly different between the group with C allele homozygote and the group with T allele homozygote and heterozygote (p-value 0.138). Scores of body weight and appetite were significantly higher in group with C allele homozygotes. Conclusion: These results suggest that RORA gene polymorphism play a role in seasonal variations in appetite and body weight and is associated with susceptibility to seasonal affective disorder in some degree in the population studied.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 2004

Objectives: Although many studies on seasonal variations in mood and behavior have been carried out in foreign countries, no such study has previously been undertaken in Korea. The goal of this study was to estimate the frequency of seasonal variations in mood and behavior among Korean medical students. Methods: 297 medical students from Korea University College of Medicine participated in this study. The subjects were surveyed with a Korean translation of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), and their responses were evaluated for seasonal patterns of mood and behavioral change, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder (S-SAD), derived from the case-finding criteria of Kasper et al. Results: The mean global seasonality score was 6.6 (SD=3.6). 83.5% (N=248) of the subjects reported some changes in behavior and mood associated with the seasons. Only 3.7% (N=11) reported no behavioral changes across the seasons. Total prevalence rates were 15.2% for SAD, and 2.7% for S-SAD. The estimated frequencies were 3.0% for summer SAD, 2.7% for summer S-SAD, 11.4% for winter SAD, and 5.8% for winter S-SAD. The prevalence rates for winter SAD or S-SAD were higher than the prevalence rates for summer SAD or S-SAD. Conclusion: These results suggest that seasonal variations in mood and behavior are common among Koreans. The higher prevalence rate of winter SAD or S-SAD than summer SAD or S-SAD is consistent with most western studies and stands in contrasts to studies in other Asian countries, such as Japan and China.