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‘It’s more than just irritability’: perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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‘It’s more than just irritability’: perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease. / Tindall, Tierney; Dale, Maria; Simpson, Jane et al.
In: Psychology and Health, 06.03.2025.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Tindall, T, Dale, M, Simpson, J & Gunn, S 2025, '‘It’s more than just irritability’: perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease', Psychology and Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2025.2474010

APA

Tindall, T., Dale, M., Simpson, J., & Gunn, S. (2025). ‘It’s more than just irritability’: perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease. Psychology and Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2025.2474010

Vancouver

Tindall T, Dale M, Simpson J, Gunn S. ‘It’s more than just irritability’: perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease. Psychology and Health. 2025 Mar 6. Epub 2025 Mar 6. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2025.2474010

Author

Tindall, Tierney ; Dale, Maria ; Simpson, Jane et al. / ‘It’s more than just irritability’ : perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease. In: Psychology and Health. 2025.

Bibtex

@article{ecbdd19960194859bb330e70b2e80fa8,
title = "{\textquoteleft}It{\textquoteright}s more than just irritability{\textquoteright}: perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington{\textquoteright}s disease",
abstract = "ObjectiveIrritability has been reported as a common psychological co-occurrence with Huntington{\textquoteright}s disease (HD). Irritability associated with HD is variously attributed to neurological changes, an understandable response to increasing difficulties with cognition and communication, or a multifactorial combination of the two or more causes. To improve our understanding, we aimed to explore perspectives and lived experiences of irritability among individuals affected by HD.Methods and measuresIndividual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants (50% female) who were gene-positive for HD. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the resultant transcripts.ResultsThree themes were generated: {\textquoteleft}Navigating the complex multifactorial causes of irritability{\textquoteright}, which reflected participants{\textquoteright} perceptions of causes and amplifiers of irritability; {\textquoteleft}The tyranny of irritability{\textquoteright}, which explored how irritability was perceived as powerful and oppressive; and {\textquoteleft}Ongoing efforts to resist irritability{\textquoteright}, which described how participants endeavoured to address irritability.ConclusionParticipants appeared to make sense of irritability as a biopsychosocial experience with multifactorial origins, suggesting the role of attribution theory in understanding their search for meanings and attempts at resistance. Our findings indicate the need to develop meaningful psychological interventions and educational materials to support individuals and their loved ones to understand and address feelings of irritability.",
author = "Tierney Tindall and Maria Dale and Jane Simpson and Sarah Gunn",
year = "2025",
month = mar,
day = "6",
doi = "10.1080/08870446.2025.2474010",
language = "English",
journal = "Psychology and Health",
issn = "0887-0446",
publisher = "Routledge",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘It’s more than just irritability’

T2 - perspectives and experiences of irritability among people affected by Huntington’s disease

AU - Tindall, Tierney

AU - Dale, Maria

AU - Simpson, Jane

AU - Gunn, Sarah

PY - 2025/3/6

Y1 - 2025/3/6

N2 - ObjectiveIrritability has been reported as a common psychological co-occurrence with Huntington’s disease (HD). Irritability associated with HD is variously attributed to neurological changes, an understandable response to increasing difficulties with cognition and communication, or a multifactorial combination of the two or more causes. To improve our understanding, we aimed to explore perspectives and lived experiences of irritability among individuals affected by HD.Methods and measuresIndividual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants (50% female) who were gene-positive for HD. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the resultant transcripts.ResultsThree themes were generated: ‘Navigating the complex multifactorial causes of irritability’, which reflected participants’ perceptions of causes and amplifiers of irritability; ‘The tyranny of irritability’, which explored how irritability was perceived as powerful and oppressive; and ‘Ongoing efforts to resist irritability’, which described how participants endeavoured to address irritability.ConclusionParticipants appeared to make sense of irritability as a biopsychosocial experience with multifactorial origins, suggesting the role of attribution theory in understanding their search for meanings and attempts at resistance. Our findings indicate the need to develop meaningful psychological interventions and educational materials to support individuals and their loved ones to understand and address feelings of irritability.

AB - ObjectiveIrritability has been reported as a common psychological co-occurrence with Huntington’s disease (HD). Irritability associated with HD is variously attributed to neurological changes, an understandable response to increasing difficulties with cognition and communication, or a multifactorial combination of the two or more causes. To improve our understanding, we aimed to explore perspectives and lived experiences of irritability among individuals affected by HD.Methods and measuresIndividual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants (50% female) who were gene-positive for HD. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the resultant transcripts.ResultsThree themes were generated: ‘Navigating the complex multifactorial causes of irritability’, which reflected participants’ perceptions of causes and amplifiers of irritability; ‘The tyranny of irritability’, which explored how irritability was perceived as powerful and oppressive; and ‘Ongoing efforts to resist irritability’, which described how participants endeavoured to address irritability.ConclusionParticipants appeared to make sense of irritability as a biopsychosocial experience with multifactorial origins, suggesting the role of attribution theory in understanding their search for meanings and attempts at resistance. Our findings indicate the need to develop meaningful psychological interventions and educational materials to support individuals and their loved ones to understand and address feelings of irritability.

U2 - 10.1080/08870446.2025.2474010

DO - 10.1080/08870446.2025.2474010

M3 - Journal article

JO - Psychology and Health

JF - Psychology and Health

SN - 0887-0446

ER -