Exploring Mood Profile Clusters Across Physical Activity Level, Gender and Age in a Finnish Population

Mood profiling is a longstanding strategy for assessing mental health risk and several distinct mood profile clusters have been identified in different cultural contexts. In this study, six previously identified mood profile clusters, namely, the iceberg, inverse iceberg, inverse Everest, shark fin, submerged and surface profiles, were investigated in Finnish individuals. The 24-item, 6-factor Finnish-language version of the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS), referred to as the Finnish Mood Scale (FIMS) was completed by 652 Finnish-speaking participants (409 females and 231 males), of which 156 self-identified as athletes, 368 self-identified as regular exercisers and 128 self-identified as inactive. Participants were grouped into four age categories 15-25 (n = 238), 26-35 (n = 176), 36-45 (n = 108) and 46+ yr. (n = 129). Seeded k-means cluster analysis identified the six hypothesised mood profiles. A discriminant function analysis supported cluster strength. Chi-squared analyses showed differences between groups in cluster prevalence. Males were overpresented in the iceberg profile, associated with positive mental health, whereas females were overpresented in the inverse Everest and shark fin profiles, both of which are associated with risks to mental health. In physical activity categories, the inactive group was underrepresented and exercisers overrepresented in the iceberg profile. Exercisers were underrepresented, and athletes overrepresented in the inverse iceberg profile. Age comparisons showed the 46+ years group were overpresented in the iceberg profile. Findings indicate that the FIMS may have utility in identifying individuals with mood profiles associated with elevated risk to mental health in Finnish populations aged 15 years and older.