2. Methods
The study reported in this paper was part of a larger
study on care needs in bipolar disorder (Goossens et al.,
2007), coping styles in bipolar disorder (Goossens et al.,
2008b) and psychopathological symptoms and quality of
life in bipolar disorder (Goossens et al., 2008c). The study
was conducted at five psychiatric outpatient clinics in the
Netherlands and used a cross-sectional research design.