Mind Wandering and Bipolar Spectrum Disorder Risk and Symptoms in Emerging Adults: An Experience Sampling Approach

Mind wandering (MW), or having thoughts not tied to the immediate activity/task, has been associated with deleterious psychological health outcomes including decreased happiness and increased depression. Few studies to date, however, have examined the relationship between MW and more severe mood health outcomes, including bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD) risk and mood symptoms in emerging adults. Across two pre-registered studies (Study 1: Spring 2019, n = 132; Study 2: Spring 2020, n = 133) we assessed associations between self-reported BSD risk and mood symptoms with overall, positive-valence, and negative-valence MW-frequency four times a day across 14 consecutive days. No significant associations emerged between overall MW-frequency and BSD risk or mood symptoms across both studies. In Study 1, BSD risk was associated with increased positive MW-frequency, which held when controlling for current symptoms. In Study 2, mania symptoms were associated with greater positive MW-frequency, and both depressive and manic symptoms were associated with greater negative MW-frequency. These findings suggest mood-congruent associations between positive-valence MW and BSD-relevant risk and mood symptoms, whereas negative-valence MW was associated with both depression and mania mood severity. Further work is warranted to investigate the translational relevance of thought patterns in everyday life with mood disturbance dimensions.