Alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms in adolescent outpatients and mothers suffering from migraines: a case control study

Cerutti, Rita; Valastro, Carmela; Tarantino, Samuela; Valeriani, Massimiliano; Faedda, Noemi; Spensieri, Valentina; Guidetti, Vincenzo

doi:10.1186/s10194-016-0640-y

Cited by 36 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…We hypothesized that adolescents of Group A reported a lower use of defense mechanisms due to the particular environment where they were (ED), which has been suggested to be associated with a lowering of defenses (King, Churchill, & Cross, 2007). Regarding our second aim, our findings confirmed that adolescents with somatoform difficulties have higher levels of alexithymic traits and are coherent with recent studies that have shown the presence of strong association between alexhitymic features and somatoform symptoms (Casini, 2015;Cerutti et al, 2016b). Moreover, higher rates of access to ED of adolescents who accessed to an ED in the past are significant associated with use of specific defense strategies (i.e., repression).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Somatoform Symptoms In Adolescents Who Visit The Emergency Department: Alexithymia And Defensive Strategies

Marzilli¹

2017

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Somatoform symptoms represent one of the main reasons of access to emergency department (ED) in adolescence. Research in this field has limitedly focused on difficulties to recognize and cope with their own emotions, considering the access rate to an ED. The present study aims to verify whether adolescents who accessed an ED for somatoform symptoms show high alexithymia traits and use specific defense strategies. Adolescents (range: 15-24 years) who visited an ED for somatoform symptoms (N=37) or who accessed to an ED for somatoform symptoms in the past (N=37) were involved in this study and completed the TAS-20 to assess alexithymia and the REM-71 to assess use of defense mechanisms. A control group of adolescents from general population were paired. Adolescents who visited an ED for somatoform symptoms shown more alexithymic traits and a higher use of maladaptive defense strategies respect to control group. Higher rates of access to ED are associated with more use of repression, but only for adolescents who accessed to an ED in the past. Finally, alexithymic characteristics are associated with use of specific defense strategies. Our findings confirm that ED is one of the most used services of young people suffering from somatoform symptoms. In this perspective, ED visits are to be considered as adolescents' unconscious attempt to seek psychological help. These findings evidence the importance of prevention programs based on increasing of awareness and acceptance of unconscious needs and on the promoting of use of adaptive defense mechanisms.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Somatoform Symptoms In Adolescents Who Visit The Emergency Department: Alexithymia And Defensive Strategies

Marzilli¹

2017

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies have shown a relationship between alexithymia and different psychiatric disorders, such as depression (Honkalampi et al, ; Son et al, ; Taylor et al, ), eating and body dysmorphic disorders (Fenwick & Sullivan, ; Guttman & Laporte, ; Karukivi et al, ; Speranza et al, ), somatoform pain disorder (Burba et al, ), migraine (Cerutti et al, ; Gatta et al, ) and dissociation (Grabe, Rainermann, Spitzer, Gänsicke, & Freyberger, ). Moreover, Mennin, Heimberg, Turk, and Fresco () showed that adults who met diagnostic criteria for generalised anxiety disorders (GADs) reported a higher intensity of emotional experience, higher tendency to express negative emotions and less ability to self‐soothe after negative emotions than did controls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia in parents and adolescents with generalised anxiety disorder

Paniccia

Gaudio

Puddu

et al. 2018

Clinical Psychologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The relationship between generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and alexithymia has been poorly studied in adolescents. The present study examined the alexithymia levels in adolescents with GAD and their parents compared with healthy control participants (adolescents and their parents). Method The sample included 300 participants: 50 adolescents with GAD and 50 healthy adolescents, 13–18 years of age, and their 200 parents (100 mothers and 100 fathers). The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School‐Age Children was performed to evaluate adolescents’ mental health while the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was performed to assess alexithymia levels in both adolescents and their parents. Results Adolescents with GAD showed a significantly higher rate of alexithymia when compared with control adolescents. The mothers of adolescents with GAD showed an alexithymia score higher than did the controls’ mothers. The fathers of the two groups showed no differences of in their rate of alexithymia. Moreover, in the clinical sample, adolescent and maternal alexithymia scores were not correlated, while significant directed correlations were found between these adolescents and their own fathers. Conclusions Our findings show an association between GAD and alexithymia in adolescents. A significant presence of alexithymic traits in the mothers of the patients with GAD was shown. An intergenerational transmission of alexithymia could be supposed but this cannot be a linear mechanism. The assessment of alexithymia in adolescents with psychological disorders, and in their parents, could be useful to plan a more targeted therapeutic approach.

show abstract

“…With the available data in healthy children, there doesn't seem to be a confirmation of the hypothesis that there is a relationship between alexithymia and somatization. Although results are not conclusive (Rieffe et al, 2010), most studies conducted on healthy children (Jellesma et al, 2009;Nasiri et al, 2009) consider that there is a decisive role of negative moods (depression, anxiety) as mediating variables between alexithymia and complaints, at least for two dimensions of alexithymia (DDF and DIF) (Allen et al, 2011). (Guttman & Laporte, 2002;Mishra et al, 2012;Szatmari et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In summary, the present study shows, in healthy children, the relation between parental alexithymia and childhood alexithymia, and how parental alexithymia can increase the previously suggested effect of childhood alexithymia on quality of life. Also, we should reiterated that contrary to previous studies, we have chosen so use health indicators instead of symptoms, as Nasiri et al (2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there any relation between alexithymia in parents and children? Effects on children’s quality of life

López¹,

Puente

Moreno

2018

EJREP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introducción. El estudio de la alexitimia en niños (especialmente en niños sanos), a diferencia de la población adulta, no ha sido estudiado ampliamente, a pesar de su estrecha relación con la salud y la calidad de vida. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar por un lado, la relación entre la alexitimia infantil y la alexitimia de sus padres, y por otro lado, la relación entre la alexitimia infantil y la calidad de vida de los niños, así como establecer si esta relación está mediada por la alexitimia de los padres.Método. Se administraron cuestionarios de alexitmia y calidad de vida a niños de entre 8 y 12 años y un cuestionario de alexitmia a sus padres, padre o madre que fuera la principal figura de cuidados. Se utilizó un diseño correlacional transversal, con análisis descriptivos de las variables de interés, correlaciones de Pearson, T de Student, regresiones lineales, y análisis de mediación empleando análisis de regresión múltiple y el test de Sobel.Resultados. Los resultados indicaron una relación significativa en las dimensiones de alexitmia entre los niños y los padres (a excepción de la dimensión de pensamiento orientado hacia el exterior). La dificultad de los niños para identificar emociones y la dificultad para describir las emociones predicen todas las dimensiones de calidad de vida (excepto el bienestar físico). Los resultados indicaron además, que esta relación fue parcialmente mediada por la dificultad de los padres para describir las emociones de algunas de las dimensiones de calidad de vida de los niños.Conclusión. Estos hallazgos tienen importantes implicaciones prácticas con respecto a la planificación de programas educativos para niños. Específicamente, en un sistema educativo en el que se valora la adquisición de competencias, se deben incorporar estrategias de identificación y expresión emocional para mejorar la calidad de vida de los niños y prevenir los problemas derivados de la alexitimia en la población adulta.

show abstract

Alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms in adolescent outpatients and mothers suffering from migraines: a case control study

Cited by 36 publications

References 53 publications

Somatoform Symptoms In Adolescents Who Visit The Emergency Department: Alexithymia And Defensive Strategies

Somatoform Symptoms In Adolescents Who Visit The Emergency Department: Alexithymia And Defensive Strategies

Alexithymia in parents and adolescents with generalised anxiety disorder

Is there any relation between alexithymia in parents and children? Effects on children’s quality of life

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About