Alexithymia and Attachment Representation in Idiopathic Spasmodic Torticollis

Abstract

We investigated alexithymia and the mental representation of attachment in idiopathic spasmodic torticollis (IST). It was hypothesized a) that alexithymia in IST is more prevalent than in a nonclinical control group and b) that significant correlations emerge between alexithymia and a dismissing attachment representation. Twenty patients with IST and 20 healthy controls matched for age and sex were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Attachment was classified using the Attachment Interview Q-sort. IST patients scored significantly higher on the measure of alexithymia than subjects in the comparison group. In IST a dismissing attachment representation was significantly more frequent than in the control group. Across the total sample, externally oriented thinking correlated positively with dismissing attachment, and both externally oriented thinking and difficulty communicating feelings (two of the three subscales of the TAS-20) correlated inversely with secure attachment. Alexithymia is more prevalent in IST than in normals. As was hypothesized, alexithymia in adults is significantly interrelated with the mental representation of attachment.

Stability of Alexithymia and Its Relationships with the ‘Big Five’ Factors, Temperament, Character, and Attachment Style

“…Also, attachment dimensions significantly improved the prediction of the TAS-20 score beyond that afforded by depression, anxiety, the Big Five factors, and temperament and character dimensions. Therefore, our results, as those of other recent studies [14,15,16], support an association between insecure attachment and alexithymia. Conceivably, this association is accounted for by the deep influence of early attachment experiences on the development of emotional and cognitive skills involved in affect regulation [37, 38].…”

“…Overall, the association between attachment dimensions and the EOT subscale was less strong compared with the DIF and DDF subscales, while another study found opposite results [14]. That study used the Adult Attachment Interview Q-sort and was performed on patients with idiopathic spasmodic torticollis and healthy subjects.…”

“…Although alexithymia has been found to be related in a theoretically meaningful way to other personality constructs including the ‘Big Five’ factors [9,10,11,12], only few studies investigated the relationship between alexithymia and other influential personality constructs such as temperament, character [13], and attachment security [14,15,16]. …”

Intact Physiological Response to Arousal with Impaired Emotional Recognition in Alexithymia

“…The breakdown in environmental communication may result in increased social isolation and subsequently decreased social support. There is evidence that alexithymia is associated with social anhedonia [48], nonverbal anger and interpersonally avoidant behavior [2], an avoidant/dismissive attachment style [49]and avoidance-oriented coping [41]. Because social support may be an important moderator between life stress and physical disease [50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55], the link between stress-related disorders and alexithymia may be a breakdown in the ability to communicate with and utilize the emotional support of others.…”

Quando o cliente pensa que não sente e sente o que não pensa: Alexitimia e psicoterapia

“…Tendo em conta a importância dada pelas teorias da vinculação à regulação do afecto, vários estudos têm examinado esta relação (e.g., Scheidt et al, 1999;Troisi, D'Argenio, Peracchio, & Petti, 2001). Por exemplo, Troisi et al (2001) Deborde et al, 2012).…”