Alexithymia in Parents of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Emotional insight is the distinctive core factor of human characteristics and it is so basic and foundational for every aspect of human understanding, communication, and daily care of life. Recent studies have identified that children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and their relatives have difficulties in identifying and recognizing their own emotions. Objectives: The present study was aimed to investigate the level and comparison of alexithymia scores in parent of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and typically developing children (TDC). Study Design: A cross-sectional comparative study. Methods: One hundred and fifty (N = 150) parents were recruited into the study which includes parents of 50 autism, parents of 50 ADHD, and parents of 50 TDC by means of convenience sampling method. Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 was used to measure alexithymia in parents of NDDs. Results: The study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in Alexithymia scores between parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attentiondeficit hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and typically developing children (One-Way ANOVA: F = 133.497, P < 0.001). Parents of children with ASD scored significantly higher on Alexithymia (66.26±4.575, t = 6.05172, 95% CI: 64.96 to 67.56) than parents of children with ADHD (59.02±7.116, t = 8.8296, 95% CI: 57.00 to 61.04) and typically developing children (49.36±3.036, 95% CI: 48.50 to 50.22). No significant association was found in Alexithymia scores with respect to gender in children against their parents (P = 0.267). Similarly, no significant association was found in Alexithymia scores with respect to demographic variables of child’s age, child’s gender, and parental age (P = 0.064). Conclusion: The results suggest that alexithymia has higher impacts on parents of autism and there is a growing need of necessary focus on alexithymia an important issue in parents of children with NDDs. Thus, it is very essential to treat alexithymia with special focus.