Is mood affected by interactions with people at risk for affective disorders?

The interpersonal behavior of individuals who have affective disorders can increase the likelihood of interpersonal conflicts. A related issue is whether vulnerability for developing affective disorder expresses itself in social interactions that affect the mood of interaction partners as well. Adolescents (n = 119) have been divided into subgroups: "mania risk" (scoring high on "Hypomanic Personality"); "unipolar risk" (scoring high on "Rigidity"); and a control group (scoring low on both scales). Interviews were conducted by raters blind to risk status. Interviewers provided ratings of their own mood before and after the interview. Negative mood of the interviewers did not change. Interviewers' positive mood decreased when interacting with individuals at risk for unipolar disorder as well as when interacting with the control subjects, but not when interacting with people at risk for mania. It seems that individuals high in hypomanic traits keep the interaction partner longer engaged and interested.