The Mood Rhythm Instrument: development and preliminary report

Abstract

Objective: To describe the initial steps in the development and validation of a new self-reported instrument designed to assess daily rhythms of mood symptoms, namely, the Mood Rhythm Instrument. Methods: A multidisciplinary group of experts took part in systematic meetings to plan the construction of the instrument. Clarity of items, their relevance to evaluation of mood states, and the consistency of findings in relation to the available evidence on the biological basis of mood disorders were investigated. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was evaluated through Cronbach's alpha. Results: All of the items proposed in a first version were well rated in terms of clarity. The items more frequently rated as ''rhythmic'' were related to the somatic symptoms of mood. Their peaks in 24 hours were more frequent in the morning. The items associated with affective symptoms of mood were rated as less rhythmic, and their peak in 24 hours occurred more frequently in the afternoon and evening. Males and females behaved more similarly with respect to somatic than behavioral-affective items. The second version of the Mood Rhythm Instrument had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.73. Conclusion:The proposed Mood Rhythm Instrument may be able to detect individual rhythms of cognitive and behavioral measures associated with mood states. Validation in larger samples and against objective measures of rhythms, such as actigraphy, is warranted.

Validation of the English version of the Mood Rhythm Instrument

“…Importantly, the time scale was modified into the 12-h clock format for a cultural adaptation for the Canadian and most English-speaking countries. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.75, meaning that the items had an acceptable internal consistency and were adequate, similar to previous validation studies of the MRhI [21,23]. The three factors solution grouped the items based on the nature of their features.…”

“…The MRhI displayed a satisfactory internal consistency (i.e. Cronbach's alpha) in Brazilian (0.73) and Spanish (0.70) populations [21,23].…”

“…Each of the 15 items comprises a categorical and a continuous question. The original version of this instrument was created in Brazilian Portuguese [21], which was then translated and validated in Spanish [22,23]. In a large study with 708 participants that completed the MRhI, we found that the rhythmicity of specific mood-related symptoms and behaviors, such as pessimism and motivation to exercise were associated with higher risk for psychiatric disorders [24].…”

Spanish Translation of the Mood Rhythm Instrument: A Novel Approach to Mood Evaluation

“…The MRI is a self-assessment questionnaire developed by de Souza et al 5 . Fifteen self-assessed items evaluate how individuals have felt for most of the time during the previous 15 days.…”

“…Recently, Souza et al 5 developed the Mood Rhythm Instrument (MRI), which detects individual rhythms of cognitive and behavioral measures associated with mood states, such as self-esteem, social relationship, sadness, sexual arousal, pessimism and alertness. This variability in individual rhythms is important to the diagnosis of mood disorders and should be relevant to patient approach and treatment management.…”