Difficulty In Describing Feelings Research Articles

Heterogeneity of Alexithymia Subgroups

Abstract: Alexithymia is a subclinical experience in which individuals struggle to identify, distinguish, and describe their own emotions. It is most commonly measured with the self-reported Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20). However, scholars hold different views on its structure, resulting in challenges in classifying individuals with alexithymia, which is detrimental to clinical diagnosis, counseling, and intervention. The present study aimed to investigate the types (or subgroups) of alexithymia within a sample of college students ( n = 707) from four Chinese universities. Two latent classes of three-factor two-class model solution were effectively identified by the Factor Mixture Model (FMM) approach: a “High-EOT alexithymia” class (18.2%) and a “Non-alexithymia” class (81.8%). The two subgroups exhibited similar performance in difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty in describing feelings (DDF), but they differed significantly in externally oriented thinking (EOT). This suggests that EOT might be a diagnostic criterion for alexithymia.

Alexithymia in the Narratization of Romantic Relationships: The Mediating Role of Fear of Intimacy.

The purpose of the study was to verify the hypothesis concerning the relationship between alexithymia and selected indicators used to describe emotional events, specifically romantic relationships. Alexithymia, due to significant distortions in cognitive processing of emotional content, is demonstrated by poor recognition of emotions in oneself and others and, as a result, by deficits in empathy, avoidance of social relationships, and deficits in the ability to mentalize. Differences in narrations were tested by alexithymia levels (high vs. low) and the relation between specific narration features and individual alexithymia factors, i.e., difficulties in identifying emotions, difficulties in verbalising emotions, and externally oriented thinking. A total of 356 people who had been in a romantic relationship for at least six months participated in the study. The TAS-20 was applied to measure alexithymia, and the FIS questionnaire was used to investigate anxiety in close relationships. Participants were asked to freely describe the romantic relationship they were in at that moment. The Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWCLIWC2015 v1.6-unlimited duration academic licence) software was used for content analysis. The study was conducted online. On the basis of the analyses conducted, high levels of alexithymia were found to be significantly associated with a lower total number of words used in narrative, a lower number relating to positive emotions, a lower number relating to causation and insight, and a higher number relating to negative emotions. Various results were obtained for individual dimensions of alexithymia in relation to the LIWC categories and the mediating role of fear of intimacy. For the difficulty identifying feelings (DIF), a significant mediating effect was observed only for words associated with negative emotions, whereas for the difficulty describing feelings (DDF), significant mediating effects were found for words relating to negative emotions and causality. In the case of externally oriented thinking (EOT), significant mediating effects were obtained for all analysed categories from LIWC.

Alexithymia, Burnout, and Hopelessness in a Large Sample of Healthcare Workers during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Italy.

In the present study, we aimed to assess the frequency of and the relationships between alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness in a large sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the third wave of COVID-19 in Italy. Alexithymia was evaluated by the Italian version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and its subscales Difficulty in Identifying Feelings (DIF), Difficulty in Describing Feelings (DDF), and Externally Oriented Thinking (EOT), burnout was measured with the scales emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) of the Maslach Burnout Test (MBI), hopelessness was measured using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and irritability (IRR), depression (DEP), and anxiety (ANX) were evaluated with the Italian version of the Irritability' Depression' Anxiety Scale (IDA). This cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 1445 HCWs from a large urban healthcare facility in Italy from 1 May to 31 June 2021. The comparison between individuals that were positive (n = 214, 14.8%) or not for alexithymia (n = 1231, 85.2%), controlling for age, gender, and working seniority, revealed that positive subjects showed higher scores on BHS, EE, DP IRR, DEP, ANX, DIF, DDF, and EOT and lower on PA than the not positive ones (p < 0.001). In the linear regression model, higher working seniority as well as higher EE, IRR, DEP, ANX, and DDF scores and lower PA were associated with higher hopelessness. In conclusion, increased hopelessness was associated with higher burnout and alexithymia. Comprehensive strategies should be implemented to support HCWs' mental health and mitigate the negative consequences of alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness.

A case -control study on the effect of alexithymia in patients of chronic urticarial

Chronic urticaria (CU) places a substantial physical and emotional strain on individuals, impacting their overall quality of life. Alexithymia, described as difficulty experiencing, identifying and expressing emotions, is a characteristic linked to various skin conditions including CU. This study was carried out to assess how alexithymia compares between patients with chronic urticaria and individuals without the condition. We included a total of 50 individuals with chronic urticaria (CU) and 50 healthy individuals as controls. All participants were asked to complete the Toronto Alexithymia Score (TAS-20) questionnaire as part of the study assessment. In our study we found the following patterns within the chronic urticaria (CU) group: 52% exhibited clear characteristics of alexithymia, 30% showed potential signs of alexithymia and 18% of participants had no indications of alexithymia. Among those who displayed alexithymia, the majority (88.5%) were in the non-controlled CU group category. When we examined the TAS-20 categories, we noticed gender differences among participants with alexithymia: 57.1% were female and 45.5% were male, suggesting a female predominance.In the control group, TAS-20 categorization revealed the following: 52% of participants had no alexithymia, 32% displayed potential alexithymia and 16% showed signs of alexithymiaIndividuals with chronic urticaria (CU) tend to exhibit higher levels of alexithymia, particularly in the DIF (Difficulty Identifying Feelings) and DDF (Difficulty Describing Feelings) subscales, when compared to individuals in the control population.

Alexithymia and interpersonal problems in healthy young individuals

BackgroundAlexithymia refers to a multidimensional personality trait with the facets difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties describing feelings (DDF), and externally orientated thinking (EOT). Alexithymia is a risk factor for mental and somatic disorders. Previous research with patients suffering from various disorders showed positive relationships between alexithymia and interpersonal problems. Only one study analyzed the link between alexithymic features and interpersonal difficulties in healthy individuals but yielded inconclusive findings because participants’ negative affects were not controlled. A widely accepted conceptualization of interpersonal problems relies on the interpersonal circumplex, which is defined by two orthogonal dimensions, agency and communion. In the present study, we analyzed which facets of alexithymia are associated with the two interpersonal problem dimensions and the global severity of interpersonal distress, after adjusting for negative affect.MethodsTwo-hundred healthy young individuals (100 women) participated in the study. Alexithymic features were assessed using the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Interpersonal problems were measured with the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-D). Participants’ state and trait anxiety, depressive symptoms, and verbal intelligence were also assessed.ResultsAll alexithymia scales were positively correlated with general interpersonal distress. Regression results suggested that the TAS-20 subscale DIF was the primary predictor of general interpersonal distress after controlling for negative affectivity. The scale DDF correlated negatively with the IIP-D dimension agency. According to our regression analysis, DDF was a predictor of (low) agency controlling for negative affects. Moreover, DDF correlated negatively with the IIP-D dimension communion. Our regression results indicate that DDF was a predictor of (low) communion independent of negative affect. Correlations between alexithymia facets and IIP-D subscales did not differ between genders.ConclusionsDifficulties identifying feelings seem to be linked to a high level of general interpersonal distress. Difficulties in recognizing one’s feelings may disrupt emotion regulation, which could heighten the general risk of interpersonal problems. Difficulties describing feelings could be a central factor contributing to interpersonal problems related to low communion as well as low agency, since emotion expression and communication are crucial in establishing experiences of social closeness and directing other people’s behavior.

A cultural training for the improvement of cognitive and affective Theory of Mind in people with Multiple Sclerosis: a pilot randomized controlled study.

Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to understand and attribute mental states to ourselves and others, could be impaired in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative disease affecting young adults. Considering that ToM is strictly connected to Quality of Life (QoL) in MS and that could enhance the social support network -which is particularly important for this population-, we aimed to design and implement a novel ToM rehabilitation training. To make the training as much ecological as possible, we have devised a protocol enhancing ToM through stimuli depicting real-world conditions (video-clips taken from cinema movies, literary fictions, and audio voices). We test training's effect on both cognitive and affective components of ToM in a sample of 13 subjects, randomly assigned to the ToM training Group and to the Control Group. The following ToM tasks were administered: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RMET), the Strange Stories task, the Faux Pas Task and the False Belief First- and Second - Order Task (FB II and III order). We also administered a psycho-behavioral assessment through the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Results show that our novel ToM training is useful in enhancing ToM abilities measured by the following tasks: the RMET (affective task, p = 0.015) and the FB II-order task (FB, cognitive task, p = 0.032). Our ToM training had also a significant effect on the total score of the TAS-20 Scale (p = 0.018) and on its "Difficulty Describing Feelings subscale" (p = 0.018), indicating a reduction of the alexithymia traits. Future works with larger samples could investigate the ToM training effectiveness in a more representative MS populations.

Conceptualizing alexithymia

Since the 1970s, psychoanalytic conceptualizations of alexithymia have defined the trait as having four core facets: difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties describing feelings (DDF), externally orientated thinking (EOT), and constricted imaginal processes. However, there is ongoing controversy about whether constricted imaginal processes are actually a core facet of alexithymia, and which (if any) specific aspects of daydreaming/fantasizing activity might be impaired. In this study, we address this foundational issue by using factor analysis to establish the latent structure of the alexithymia construct. Participants (N = 554) completed a comprehensive battery of psychometric measures of alexithymia and imaginal processes, assessing the frequency, vividness, and content of daydreams or fantasies. None of the aspects of fantasizing loaded on the same factor (i.e., the latent alexithymia factor) as the established DIF, DDF, and EOT facets of alexithymia. Furthermore, patterns of Pearson correlations were inconsistent with psychoanalytic theory, as alexithymia was associated with more (not less) frequent daydreams, more daydreams characterized by negative emotions and wish-fulfillment fantasies, and more use of daydreaming to regulate emotions. Our findings are instead consistent with the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia, which holds that alexithymia is best understood as involving deficits in emotion processing.

Externally oriented thinking style increases primary health care use in adolescence.

Alexithymia has been related to adult health care use. We investigated the association between alexithymia and the utilization of primary health care services by adolescents and young adults. The participants (n = 751, aged 13-18 years) in this 5-year follow-up study were assessed with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and its three subscales, difficulty identifying feelings (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF) and externally oriented thinking (EOT), and the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Primary health care data were gathered from health care centre registers in 2005-10. Generalized linear models and mediation analyses were used. An increase in the TAS-20 total score correlated with a higher number of primary health care and emergency care visits, but in multivariate general linear models, TAS-20 total scores were no longer significant. Younger age, female gender and an increase in the baseline EOT score are associated with a higher number of both primary health care and emergency room visits. In females, a smaller change in the EOT score from baseline to follow-up was associated with a higher number of primary health care visits. In mediation analyses, EOT had a direct effect on a higher number of primary health care and emergency room visits, whereas the BDI score mediated the incremental effect of DIF and DDF on visit numbers. The results suggest that an EOT style independently increases health care use by adolescents, whereas the effects of difficulties identifying and describing feelings on health care use are mediated by symptoms of depression.

Sex differences in subjective cognitive impairment and clinical correlates in Chinese patients with subthreshold depression

ObjectiveSubthreshold depression (SD) is a global mental health problem given its high prevalence, comorbidity, functional impairment, and its association with increased service utilization. However, currently little is known about sex differences of SD in cognitive impairment with clinical correlates. This study aims to explore sex differences in subjective cognitive impairment and clinically associated risk factors in Chinese patients with subthreshold depression (SD).MethodsA total of 126 patients with SD, 40 males and 86 females, aged 18–45 years, were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Their general information, psychological assessments, and psychiatric symptom assessments were collected online. The Patient Health Questionnaire depression-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Perceived Deficits Questionnaire-Depression (PDQ-D), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) with 3 subdomains were used. The obtained scores were analyzed with partial correlation and multiple linear regression analysis models.ResultsOur results showed that females had significantly higher PDQ-D-20 total score than males. However, the differences in TAS-20 and subdomain score according to sex were not significant. Notably, TAS-20 and DDF (difficulty describing feelings) subdomain contributed to cognitive impairment in males, whereas both PHQ-9 total score and TAS-20 or DDF subdomain contributed to cognitive impairment in females.ConclusionThese findings revealed significant sex differences in cognitive impairment and clinical correlates in SD, which should be further followed-up in the future.

Influence of alexithymia on somatic complaints among Japanese adolescents

This study examined alexithymic tendencies and the effect of these tendencies on somatic complaints in Japanese adolescents. Japanese adolescents (n=2,759; age range 12—20 years) participated in the study. Alexithymic tendencies were assessed by the Alexithymia Scale for Adolescents (ASA) and somatic complaints by the Somatic Complaint List (SCL). The results indicated the following. (1) The total ASA score remained high from early to late adolescence. (2) The ASA total scores remained high because ASA subfactors, difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF), and difficulty describing feelings (DDF) increased during adolescence, whereas externally oriented thinking (EOT) decreased, (3) The DIF significantly affected adolescents’ somatic complaints irrespective of their grade or gender. (4) The DDF increased somatic complaints of junior high and high school-aged male participants only, but this effect disappeared as respondents’ age increased and they became undergraduates. These results indicate that the effect of alexithymic tendencies on somatic complaints changes with age. The study further revealed that the DIF consistently affects the increase in somatic complaints.

Short research report : Relationship between alexithymia as a multi-dimensional construct and depression in university students : mediating role of anxiety

This study investigated the relationship between alexithymia and depression amongst university students and how it is mediated by anxiety. Data was collected from a sample of university students (n= 74, Men = 41, Women = 33) aged 18 to 25 (Mean = 22.05, SD = .38). The findings revealed a statistically significant gender difference with men being more alexithymic than women. There was a significant positive correlation between the alexithymic subscales difficulty identifying feelings (DDF) and difficulty describing feelings (DIF), depression and anxiety. DDF and DIF along with anxiety predicted depression. Anxiety partially mediated the relationship between DIF and depression but completely mediated the relationship between DDF and depression. Alexithymic features DDF and DIF predict depression in the sample but Externally Oriented Thinking (EOT) did not. Anxiety was found to be an underlying mechanism operating in the between alexithymic features and depression.

Boosting effect of regular sport practice in young adults: Preliminary results on cognitive and emotional abilities.

Several studies have shown that physical exercise (PE) improves behavior and cognitive functioning, reducing the risk of various neurological diseases, protecting the brain from the detrimental effects of aging, facilitating body recovery after injuries, and enhancing self-efficacy and self-esteem. Emotion processing and regulation abilities are also widely acknowledged to be key to success in sports. In this study, we aim to prove that regular participation in sports enhances cognitive and emotional functioning in healthy individuals. A sample of 60 students (mean age = 22.12; SD = 2.40; M = 30), divided into sportive and sedentary, were subjected to a neuropsychological tests battery to assess their overall cognitive abilities (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, APM), verbal and graphic fluency (Word Fluency Task and modified Five Point Test, m-FPT), as well as their emotional awareness skills (Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20). Our results showed that sportive students performed better than sedentary ones in all cognitive tasks. Regarding emotional processing abilities, significant differences were found in the TAS-20 total score as well as in the Difficulty Describing Feelings (DDF) subscale and the Difficulty Identifying Feeling (DIF) subscale. Lastly, gender differences were found in the External-Oriented Thinking (EOT) subscale. Overall, our findings evidence that PE has positive effects on cognitive functioning and emotion regulation, suggesting how sports practice can promote mental health and wellbeing.

Depression in Chinese men with methamphetamine dependence: Prevalence, correlates and relationship with alexithymia

BackgroundThe comorbidity between substance use disorder and major depressive disorder is a typical dual diagnosis in the field of substance addiction. However, the prevalence and correlates of depression in methamphetamine addicts and whether it is associated with drug craving and alexithymia have been rarely reported in the Chinese population. MethodsWe recruited 585 methamphetamine-dependent males from a drug rehabilitation center in China and 203 healthy controls. Demographic and drug use data were collected. Depression was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N·I.). Methamphetamine cravings and alexithymia were assessed using the Desire for Drugs Questionnaire (DDQ) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). ResultsThe prevalence rate of depression in methamphetamine-dependent men was 16.58 % (97/585). The scores of DDQ desire and intention, DDQ negative reinforcement, total DDQ, difficulty identifying feelings (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF), and total TAS score of depressed patients were higher than those of non-depressed patients. However, only DDQ negative reinforcement score, DIF, DDF, and total TAS score remained significant after Bonferroni correction. Additionally, logistic regression analysis found that age, DIF score, and DDQ negative reinforcement score were significant factors contributing to depression in methamphetamine-dependent men. ConclusionOur findings suggest that the prevalence of depression is significantly higher in methamphetamine-dependent men than in the healthy Chinese population. Furthermore, age, components of alexithymia and drug craving are risk factors for depression in methamphetamine addicts.

Shared and unique interoceptive deficits in high alexithymia and neuroticism.

Interoception is the perception of internal bodily signals. It is considered fundamental to developing emotional awareness. For this reason, interoceptive deficits are often associated with alexithymia, a condition characterized by difficulty identifying feelings (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF), and an externally-oriented style of thinking (EOT). Yet, the atypical interoception found in alexithymia might be of a similar type and/or more serious than those found in other partially overlapping constructs that entail emotional difficulties and behavioural patterns associated with specific emotional styles. Our study explores this issue by examining the relationship between the interoceptive deficits associated with alexithymia and the Big Five personality traits. A non-clinical sample (N = 504) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Big Five Inventory and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness. Data were analysed using a network analytic approach that conceives psychological traits as networks of interacting symptoms. The estimated network highlighted that EOT is the alexithymia component least associated with interoception and most associated with lower Openness to Experience. Conversely, DIF and Neuroticism are, respectively, the dimensions of alexithymia and the Big Five most highly associated with interoception. We also compared interoceptive abilities in the four groups of participants whose scores were a) high for both alexithymia and neuroticism, b) high only for alexithymia c), high only for neuroticism, and d) low for both. High alexithymia was especially associated with the tendency to ignore sensations of pain or discomfort, while neuroticism was more indicative of the tendency to worry about these sensations. These results suggest that while high alexithymia and neuroticism share some interoceptive deficits, others are unique to alexithymia and contribute to overall lower interoceptive ability in this condition. Our findings suggest that interventions to enhance awareness of bodily sensations can be beneficial especially for profiles who present high neuroticism and alexithymia.

Music and facial emotion recognition and its relationship with alexithymia

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of alexithymia on the ability to identify emotions through visual and auditory stimuli. We assessed Alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). As visual stimuli, we employed the images of faces from the Ekman 60 Faces Test, while the auditory stimuli consisted of fragments of instrumental music. A total of 303 students participated, 139 in secondary education and 164 in the first year of university ( M = 17.58 years; SD = 4.16). The results show higher alexithymia levels in the female participants than in the male participants, mainly in the difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF) factors, and higher in the secondary students than in the university students, especially in externally oriented thinking (EOT). In terms of the identification of emotions through auditory stimuli, the EOT factor showed a strong predictive effect for the emotions of surprise and anger. For the visual stimuli, the EOT factor showed predictive validity for identifying happiness, while the DDF factor showed predictive validity for identifying sadness. We conclude that there is a relationship between alexithymia levels and emotion recognition, which varies depending on the nature of the stimulus.

Alexithymia, social inhibition, affectivity, and knowledge hiding

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of adverse personality traits (alexithymia, social inhibition, negative affectivity) and supervisor knowledge hiding on individual knowledge hiding. This study also explores the moderating role of positive affectivity. Design/methodology/approach Partial least squares path modeling and data collected from 518 Polish employees with higher education and extensive professional experience recruited via an Ariadna survey panel were used to test the research hypotheses. Findings Two dimensions of alexithymia were considered: difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF). DIF has a direct impact on individual hiding, whereas DDF has an indirect impact, via social inhibition. Negative affectivity is a predictor of social inhibition, which enhances knowledge hiding. Positive affectivity slightly weakens the positive and strong effect of supervisor knowledge hiding on subordinate knowledge hiding. Practical implications Because alexithymia, social inhibition and negative affectivity may predispose employees to knowledge hiding, managers should identify these personality traits among job applicants and hired employees to make appropriate employment decisions. Moreover, managers should be aware that hiding knowledge by a supervisor may be imitated by subordinates. Originality/value Based on conservation of resources theory, this study investigates previously unexplored relationships among alexithymia, social inhibition, affectivity and knowledge hiding.

Identification and Characterization of Alexithymia Subgroups by Latent Profile Analysis of TAS-20K

Background: The present study aimed to investigate the number of latent groups that can be identified on the basis on the level of difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties in describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT).Methods: DIF, DDF, and EOT are the sub-factors of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify the subgroups and investigate their properties. A total of 237 Korean university and graduate students were included in the study, and alexithymia subtypes were classified into 5 latent groups.Results: The groups were classified according to the DIF and DDF scores. Furthermore, it was observed that the EOT did not play a role in classifying the groups. The higher the DIF and DDF scores, the higher were the levels of depression and anxiety. The type 2 latent group, which had a unique profile with the highest DIF level and an average DDF level, showed high levels of depression and anxiety.Conclusions: These results suggest that the DIF significantly affects psychological adaptation, thus warranting the consideration of this parameter in counseling and psychotherapy.

Psychopathology and Alexithymia in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis: Development of a Novel Index with Prognostic Value.

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory disease with a high risk of developing mental health difficulties. Objective: The purposes of the study were to evaluate in moderate-to-severe psoriasis (a) the prevalence of depression and psychopathology, (b) the relationship between depression, psychopathology symptoms, and alexithymia, including its three dimensions, difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF), difficulty in describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), and (c) to establish a novel index for the development of depression according to patients’ psychopathological profile. Methods: In 104 patients, alexithymia was evaluated with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and psychopathology with the Brief Symptom Inventory SCL-90 (SCL90). A psychopathology index that combines information from the BDI and SCL90 scales was constructed and the performance of the index with alexithymia was examined. Results: Female patients and active smokers score higher on BDI and SCL90 scales. Overweight patients tend to score arithmetically higher. The psychopathology index developed correlates significantly with age, DIF, DDF, and TAS-20. DIF, DDF, and TAS-20 are significant predictors of the psychopathology index. Patients with alexithymia/possible alexithymia are six times as likely to score higher in one of the psychopathology scales. Conclusions: Alexithymia is a significant factor in the development of psychopathology in psoriasis patients. The use of the proposed novel psychopathology index could be essential in order to identify patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who are more likely to experience depression and psychopathology. This could have an impact on the decision-making of psoriasis treatment and monitoring of the patient.

Alexithymia in Adolescents with Acne: Association with Quality of Life Impairment and Stigmatization.

Alexithymia seems to be more common among patients with skin diseases. However, studies on acne patients are very limited. We conducted this study to evaluate alexithymia in adolescents with acne. In our cross-sectional study, 730 high school students (mean age: 17.05 ± 1.18 years) were recruited. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to measure alexithymia, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was employed to study quality of life (QoL), and the 6-item Stigmatization Scale (6ISS) was used to evaluate the level of stigmatization in acne subjects. Alexithymia was found in 31% of adolescents, with similar prevalence among those with and without acne (31.3% and 30.1%, respectively). The mean scoring on the TAS-20 in patients with acne (53.1 ± 12.8 points) was not significantly different from that of the non-acne group (53.5 ± 11.9 points). However, significant correlations between TAS-20 scores and QoL assessments (r = 0.332, p < 0.001) as well as stigmatization level (r = 0.284, p < 0.001) were found. These correlations were also significant for the domains of alexithymia described as difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty in describing feelings (DDF), but not for externally oriented thinking (EOT). The findings clearly showed that acne does not predispose to alexithymia; however, alexithymia in acne subjects is related to impaired QoL and stigmatization.

Alexithymic traits and parental postpartum bonding: Findings from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study.

In the postpartum period, some parents experience problems in bonding with the infant, which can lead to difficulties in adjusting to the parental caregiving role. Alexithymia, through deficits in emotional processing, could potentially be associated with problems in parental postpartum bonding. In the current study, this association has been explored in a large population-based sample of mothers and fathers, and to our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate this association. The study population (n = 2,671) was part of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort study and included 1,766 mothers and 905 fathers who returned The Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) at three months postpartum and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) at six months postpartum. Correlation analyses and hierarchical regression modeling, adjusted for selected background factors, were performed separately for mothers and fathers. The alexithymia dimension "Difficulty Identifying Feelings" (DIF) in mothers and fathers, and additionally dimensions of "Difficulty Describing Feelings" (DDF) and "Externally Oriented Thinking" (EOT) in fathers were associated with weaker postpartum bonding, when related background factors were controlled for. To our knowledge this was the first study to investigate the relationship between parents' alexithymic traits and postpartum bonding within a large birth cohort study population. The main finding was that especially higher levels of maternal DIF and paternal EOT were associated with weaker postpartum bonding. Longitudinal studies are needed to establish the potential causality of this relationship.