The association between alexithymia and two dimensions of major depressive disorder: cognitive and somatic-affective

Abstract

Aim: To explore the association between alexithymia and two dimensions of major depressive disorder (MDD): cognitive and somatic-affective. Patients and methods. Unicentric, cross-sectional study included consecutive sample of 63 patients at the Department of Psychiatry (DoP), Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Centre, Zagreb, Croatia. Target population included outpatients with diagnosed MDD (F32 and F33, according to ICD-10). Inclusion criteria were: confirmed MDD diagnosis, age between 18 and 65 years, both genders, outpatient treatment at the DoP. The main outcome was the association between alexithymia, measured by total score on 20-item Toronto-Alexithymia scale (TAS-20), with two dimensions of MDD, cognitive and somatic-affective, measured by Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Results: Both dimensions of BDI-II and the total severity of MDD symptoms were statistically significantly, although low, associated with alexithymia, and the differences between these two correlations were not (statistically) significant. However, in the multivariable model, the cognitive dimension (b = 0.64; β = 0.48; p = 0.002; statistically significant at the false discovery rate of 0.05) was primarily associated with alexithymia, and the somatic-affective was not, after all cognitive aspects were controlled for (b = -0.19; β = 0-0.14; p = 0.491; not statistically significant, with the false discovery rate of 0.05). Conclusion: Alexithymia is primarily associated with a pure cognitive dimension of MDD after somatic-affective elements are excluded. Somatic-affective dimension of MDD is not associated with alexithymia after the cognitive elements were controlled for. Both dimensions, as well as the overall severity of MDD, are associated with alexithymia, but this association is relatively low.