“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!” – Higher Hypomania Scores Are Associated with Higher Mental Toughness, Increased Physical Activity, and Lower Symptoms of Depression and Lower Sleep Complaints

Abstract

Background: In the present study, we explored the associations between hypomania, symptoms of depression, sleep complaints, physical activity and mental toughness. The latter construct has gained interest for its association with a broad variety of favorable behavior in both clinical and non-clinical samples.Subjects and Methods: The non-clinical sample consisted of 206 young adults (M = 21.3 years; age range: 18–24 years; 57.3% males). They completed questionnaires covering hypomania, mental toughness, symptoms of depression, physical activity, and sleep quality.Results: Higher hypomania scores were associated with higher mental toughness, increased physical activity, lower symptoms of depression and lower sleep complaints. No gender differences were observed. Higher hypomania scores were predicted by higher scores of mental toughness subscales of control and challenge, and physical activity.Conclusion: The pattern of results suggests that among a non-clinical sample of young adults, self-rated hypomania scores were associated with higher scores on mental toughness and physical activity, along with lower depression and sleep complaints. The pattern of results further suggests that hypomania traits are associated with a broad range of favorable psychological, behavioral and sleep-related traits, at least among a non-clinical sample of young adults.

Proximate and Ultimate Perspectives on Romantic Love

“…These symptoms are considered as favorable, "bright side" symptoms and contrast with unfavorable "dark side" symptoms such as disinhibition/stimulation-seeking and irritable/erratic dimensions (Brand et al, 2015). Despite their association with hypomania, the favorable nature of these symptoms in romantic love may be a sign of good physical and mental health because higher hypomanic scores have been associated with higher "mental toughness, " increased physical activity, lower symptoms of depression, and lower sleep complaints (Jahangard et al, 2017). Additionally, falling in love with a partner is sometimes associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms (Bajoghli et al, 2013(Bajoghli et al, , 2017.…”

“…Health-promoting benefits of romantic love, such as elevated mood, increased sleep quality, and up-regulated immune responses, for example, may be by-products of mood circuitry (see Nettle and Bateson, 2012;D'Acquisto, 2017;Jahangard et al, 2017) or other mechanisms, even though they offer some survival or reproductive advantage. Elevated mood, better sleep quality, and an associated up-regulated immune system probably evolved prior to the emergence of romantic love (see Flajnik and Kasahara, 2010;Loonen and Ivanova, 2015).…”

Further Evidence of the Zero-Association Between Symptoms of Insomnia and Facial Emotion Recognition—Results From a Sample of Adults in Their Late 30s

“…To assess mental toughness, as in previous studies (58, 59, 63, 67, 68) the short form (MTQ18) of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (69) was employed. It consists of 18 items focusing on commitment, confidence, control, and challenge.…”

The Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Job Loss, and Mental Health Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The concept was initially employed within the domain of sport psychology to denote a battery of experientially developed and heritable psychological resources (i.e., values, attitudes, emotions, cognitions, and behaviors) that facilitated success in sports and physical activity (23). However, since its emergence, MT has been employed within clinical, developmental and occupational contexts, demonstrating similar enabling effects on achievement and positive mental health (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32).…”