The present study is the first to assess phenotypic correlations between alexithymia and the Dark Triad traits of personality in a community sample, as well as the common genetic and environmental factors underlying these correlations. Participants were 232 North American adult twin pairs who completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, the MACH-IV, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Results revealed that alexithymia correlates significantly and positively with psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and negatively with narcissism. Subsequent bivariate behavioral genetic analysis demonstrated that these phenotypic correlations were primarily attributable to common genetic and common non-shared environmental factors. The implication of these findings regarding the maladaptive functions of alexithymia within the antisocial realm of behavior and the need for replication are discussed.
Objective: Fear-avoidance and endurance behavior are well-established maladaptive coping styles in several chronic health conditions. There is also emerging evidence that both fear-avoidance and endurance coping are associated with poor outcome from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The current study sought to characterize the early trajectories of avoidance and endurance behavior and confirm their association with disability outcomes. Method: Adults with mTBI (N = 88) completed measures of avoidance, endurance, and postconcussive symptoms at clinic intake (M = 40.2 days since injury). Avoidance and endurance measures were readministered 1 month later (N = 79), and a measure of perceived functional disability (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0) was completed 3 months after clinic intake (N = 69). Results: Avoidance and endurance coping were weakly positively correlated with each other at intake (r = .28) and at 1 month postintake (r = .28). Change scores on these two measures over time were not significantly correlated (r = .04). Avoidance coping tended to decrease over time (95% CI [0.6, 2.5]; p = .002), whereas changes in endurance coping were variable. In generalized linear modeling, higher avoidance and endurance at clinic intake and increasing (or less rapidly decreasing) levels of these coping styles over 1 month was associated with greater perceived disability ratings at 3 months, even after controlling for postconcussion symptom severity at intake. Conclusion: These findings suggest that avoidance and endurance behavior are distinct coping styles with unique trajectories during the subacute recovery period. The results also support the need for psychologically informed early interventions that target specific profiles of maladaptive coping to mitigate risk for poor outcomes post-mTBI.
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