Prevalence and Correlates of Alexithymia and Its Relationship With Life Events in Chinese Adolescents With Depression During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Xixin Wang,Yu Hu,Xiangwang Wen,Changhao Chen,Feng Geng,Jiawei Wang,Xiaoyue Li,Chunyan Guo,Lei Xia,Huanzhong Liu,Xiangfen Luo,Feng Sun

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774952

Abstract

Objectives: The incidence of psychological and behavioral problems and depression among adolescents is increasing year by year, which has become an important public health problem. Alexithymia, as an important susceptible factor of adolescent depression, may continue to develop and strengthen under the stimulation of COVID-19-related stressors. However, no studies have focused on alexithymia in adolescent depression during the pandemic in China. This study aims to investigate the incidence and related factors of alexithymia in adolescent depression during the pandemic.Methods: Three hundred adolescent patients were enrolled from October 2020 to May 2021. The general demographic information of all participants was collected, and the clinical characteristics were assessed by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check (ASLEC) List, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation (PANSI) Inventory.Results: The incidence of alexithymia was significantly higher among adolescents with depression (76.45%) during the pandemic. There were significant differences in school bullying, disease severity, ASLEC score, CTQ score and PANSI score between adolescents with and without alexithymia. In addition, learning stress, health and adaptation problems during the pandemic may be influential factors in alexithymia of adolescent depression (P < 0.05).Conclusions: According to the results, we found a high incidence of alexithymia in adolescent depression during the pandemic. More support and attention from families, schools and society is needed to develop preventive and targeted psychological interventions as early as possible.

Highlights

Depression is one of the most common affective disorders among adolescents, which seriously affects quality of life and social functions, and has become one of the major diseases threatening the healthy growth of adolescents
The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of alexithymia and its relationship with life events in Chinese adolescent depression during the pandemic, so as to further understand the possible effects of alexithymia on the formation and recurrence of adolescent depression, and to provide important clinical information for the formulation of preventive and targeted treatment plans
The results showed that 76.45% of adolescent patients reported alexithymia, which was significantly higher than the prevalence of alexithymia (26.75%) in adolescents with depressive symptoms before the outbreak [45]

Summary

Introduction

Depression is one of the most common affective disorders among adolescents, which seriously affects quality of life and social functions, and has become one of the major diseases threatening the healthy growth of adolescents. About 50% of patients with recurrent adult depression reported their initial onset before the age of 18, and 48% of patients with early-onset depression had attempted suicide, compared with 26% of those with adult-onset depression [7]. These highlight the importance of early and effective management of adolescent depression. It increases susceptibility to mental disorders, reduces the effectiveness of psychotherapy, and negatively affects the development and severity of psychopathological symptoms [11,12,13,14]. Patients with depression exhibit higher rates of alexithymia than patients with other mental disorders [17, 18]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion