Comparison of autobiographical memory between depressive patients with and without alexithymia

Abstract

Objective To explore the difference of autobiographical memory(AM) between depressive patients with and without alexithymia, and correlation between AM and alexithymia in depressive patients with alexithymia. Methods 29 depressive patients with alexithymia, 34 depressive patients without alexithymia were enrolled. All patients were measured by autobiographical memory test (AMT), Toronto alexithymia scale-20 (TAS-20), Hamilton depression scale-24 (HAMD-24). Results ①The negative overgeneral AM score was higher in depressive patients with alexithymia than those without alexithymia ((3.34±1.80), (2.51±1.12), respectively t=2.19, P<0.05). ②The total overgeneral AM score was higher in depressive patients with alexithymia than those without alexithymia ((6.14±2.44), (4.86±2.06), respectively t=2.21, P<0.05). ③The correlation coefficient (r value)between the total score of overgeneral AM and total score of TAS, TAS-Ⅲ scores of TAS in depressive patients with alexithymia were significantly positively correlated(r=0.240~0.611, P<0.05). However, the correlation coefficient between the total score of specific AM and total score of TAS, TAS-Ⅲ scores of TAS in depressive patients with alexithymia were significantly negatively correlated(r=-0.502~-0.205, P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with depressive patients without alexithymia, the overgeneral AM in depressive patients with alexithymia is more severe, and the alexithymia can increase the severity of overgeneral AM. Key words: Major depressive disorder; Alexithymia; Autobiographical memory