Difficulties in emotional regulation: association with poorer oral health‐related quality of life in the general population

Abstract

Personality is one of the strongest predictors of subjective well-being and may, according to a few previous studies, affect how people report oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Alexithymia, a personality trait involving difficulties in emotional regulation, is associated with poorer health-related quality of life in the general population. We studied if alexithymia is also associated with poorer OHRQoL in a general population sample of 4,460 adults. Oral health-related quality of life was measured using the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and alexithymia was measured using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Controlling for clinically assessed dental health, depression, anxiety, and socio-demographic variables, higher scores on the TAS-20 as well as on its three dimensions [difficulties in identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties in describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT)] were associated with higher OHIP-14 composite scores according to Poisson regression analyses. In adjusted logistic regression analyses, the TAS-20 and two of its dimensions (DIF and DDF) were positively and significantly associated with the seven OHIP-14 dimensions and the prevalence of those reporting one or more OHIP-14 items fairly often or very often. The study showed that difficulties in emotional regulation might be reflected in poorer OHRQoL, regardless of the dental health status, depression, anxiety, and socio-demographic variables.