Review Impulsivity in remitted depression: A meta-analytical review Sahoo Saddichha a, *, Christian Schuetz b a Senior Registrar, NWMH, Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia b Department of Psychiatry & Psychiatrist, Burnaby Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 2. Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 2.1. Data source and search methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 2.2. Data analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 2.3. Publication bias. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 3. Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 3.1. Depression (Table ?1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 4. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 1. Introduction Impulsivity may be considered to be a concept that involves rapid unplanned action without regard to the consequences of the action (Moeller et al., 2001). Impulsivity being characterized by lack of planning and considering all potential outcomes is frequently associated with negative outcomes. Although not a psychiatric diagnosis by itself, impulsivity is present within the diagnostic criteria for a number of psychiatric disorders. It actually can be present in any individual with or without a DSM-IV axis I or II diagnosis (Moeller et al., 2001). However, it is more likely to be present in individuals with certain psychiatric disorders, such as, bipolar disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, person- ality disorders and substance abuse and dependence (Moeller et al., 2001). In studies examining the link between impulsivity and bipolar disorder, strong associations have been observed (Swann et al., 2001, 2003) during both manic and depressive phases. Asian Journal of Psychiatry xxx (2014) xxx–xxx A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 31 January 2014 Accepted 5 February 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Depression Impulsivity BIS 11 Meta-analysis A B S T R A C T Aim: Depressive disorder and suicide have been associated with impulsivity in several studies. This paper aimed to review measures of trait impulsivity in remitted depressive disorder. Methods: We used keywords ‘‘impulsivity and depression’’; ‘‘impulsivity and depressive disorder’’ to narrow down our search on Medline, EMBASE and Psychinfo to include those studies that had reported impulsivity scores using validated and reliable assessment measures in remitted depressive disorder. We searched all English language studies from 1990 to December 2012 with 9 reports meeting the inclusion criteria for depression, which were then reviewed by the two reviewers independently. We generated weighted mean differences (WMDs) for depression from the pooled data using RevManager 5.1 from Cochrane analysis. Results: The Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) 11 was the instrument commonly used in depression. 9 studies met inclusion criteria in depression, which yielded a WMD of 10.12 on BIS 11 total scores. Conclusion: There is a strong association of impulsivity and depression, which persists even in remission. ß 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 415 389 255. E-mail address: saddichha@gmail.com (S. Saddichha). G Model AJP-561; No. of Pages 4 Please cite this article in press as: Saddichha, S., Schuetz, C., Impulsivity in remitted depression: A meta-analytical review. Asian J. Psychiatry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2014.02.003 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Asian Journal of Psychiatry jo u rn al h om epag e: ww w.els evier.c o m/lo cat e/ajp http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2014.02.003 1876-2018/ß 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.