Calculating the Social Rhythm Metric (SRM) and Examining Its Use in Interpersonal Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT) in a Healthy Population Study

Behavioral Sciences

Theun Pieter van Tienoven¹  Joeri Minnen¹  Sarah Daniels¹  Djiwo Weenas¹  Anke Raaijmakers² 

[1] Research Group TOR, Sociology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; E-Mails:;Pediatrics Department, UZ Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; E-Mail:

关键词: bipolar disorder;    cognitive behavioral therapy;    interpersonal psychotherapy;    social rhythms;    GHQ-12;    time-diary;   

DOI  :  10.3390/bs4030265

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In psychiatry, the social zeitgeber theory argues that social life provides important social cues that entrain circadian rhythms. Disturbance of these social cues might lead do dis-entrainment of circadian rhythms and evoke somatic symptoms that increase the risk of mood disorders. In preventing and treating patients with bipolar disorders, the Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT) relies on the Social Rhythm Metric (SRM) to (re)establish patients’ social cues and an re-entrain circadian rhythms. Since the SRM quantifies social rhythms that are derived from a patient’s interaction with a social environment, this contribution (a) calculates the SRM of the social environment of a representative healthy population study (n = 1249), (b) evaluates the robustness of the SRM as a quantifier of social rhythms by matching the scores of the pilot study, revealing the near absence of variance across population characteristics and investigation months—circadian rhythms need to be entrained for every month and for everyone—and (c) examines its use in IPSRT by relating high SRM-scores to lower psychological distress (p = 0.004) and low SRM-scores to higher social and emotional dysfunction (p = 0.018).

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.