Relationships among alexithymia, psychological distress, and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the relations between psychological distress, alexithymia, disordered eating behaviors (DEBs), and body mass index (BMI) and to assess if psychological stress would mediate the influence of alexithymia on DEBs in adolescents. A total of 1609 high school students (58.9% females) aged 14–18 years were included in the study. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. DEBs including emotional eating, cognitive restraint, and uncontrolled eating were assessed with the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, psychological distress was assessed with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and alexithymia was assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Psychological distress was found to be positively associated with alexithymia, emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and cognitive restraint (p < 0.01). Both direct and indirect effects of alexithymia on emotional eating and uncontrolled eating were significant. Psychological distress partially mediated the relationship between alexithymia and uncontrolled eating (β = 0.05) and emotional eating (β = 0.04), while it fully mediated the relationship between alexithymia and cognitive restraint (β = 0.05). BMI z score was not correlated with alexithymia and psychological distress. Emotional eating (β = 0.16) and cognitive restraint (β = 0.34), but not uncontrolled eating, significantly were associated with BMI z score. This study demonstrated that alexithymia and psychological distress are positively associated with DEBs in adolescents. It also showed that psychological distress plays a mediating role between alexithymia and DEBs. Moreover, it showed that emotional eating and cognitive restraint are positively associated with the BMI z score. These results suggest that interventions aimed at improving adolescents’ psychological well-being and their ability to identify and describe their emotions may reduce DEBs in adolescents, thereby preventing obesity in adolescents.