Alexithymia and temperament and character model of personality in alcohol‐dependent Turkish men

Abstract

Aims: Alexithymia, a personality trait characterized as having problems identifying, describing, and working with one's own feelings, often marked by a lack of understanding of the feelings of others, is only partly described within the context of personality. The aim of the present study was therefore to study the prevalence of alexithymia among male alcoholdependent inpatients and investigate the relationship between alexithymia and the dimensions of Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality. Methods: The Turkish version of the TorontoAlexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Turkish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were administered to 111 male alcohol-dependent inpatients.Results: TAS-20 scores correlated positively with harm avoidance and self-transcendence and negatively with self-directedness and cooperativeness. Regression analysis identified high harm avoidance and self-transcendence and low self-directedness as independent predictors of alexithymia. Also harm avoidance and self-transcendence predicted alexithymia in a logistic regression model. Conclusions: Alexithymia can be explained by specific dimensions within Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality in alcohol-dependent Turkish men.Key words: alexithymia, character, personality, temperament.A LEXITHYMIA IS AN emotional processing disturbance clinically manifested by difficulties in identifying and verbalizing feelings, in elaborating fantasies, and by a tendency to focus on and amplify the somatic sensations accompanying emotional arousal. Alexithymia is thought to be a stable personality trait and a predisposing risk factor for a variety of psychiatric disorders. Salient features of alexithymia are the inability to distinguish one's feelings from the accompanying bodily sensations, the inability to communicate feelings to others, and an externally oriented cognitive style reflecting an absence of inner thoughts and fantasies. These three lower-order concepts reflect separate, yet empirically related facets of the alexithymia construct.

Alexithymia, Psychopathology and Alcohol Misuse in Adolescence: A Population Based Study on 3556 Teenagers

“…In contrast to our initial hypothesis, in the subsample of drinkers we found that alexithymia decreased with the increase in alcohol consumption. This is a finding that differs from the results of investigations on the relationship between alexithymia and alcoholism conducted in adults, a context in which several researches have reported higher rates of alexithymia in alcoholics, between 45% and 67% [12]- [15] [17] [18] [56] [57].…”

“…Alexithymia is characterized by: 1) difficulties in discriminating between emotions and bodily sensation; 2) difficulty in communicating emotions to others verbally; 3) limited imaginative processes; 4) an externally oriented cognitive style [11]. The prevalence of alexithymia in adult alcohol misusers is 45% -67% [12]- [15]. Since alexithymic individuals often feel uncomfortable in social situations [15] [16], some researchers have suggested that in these subjects, alcohol misuse might be a coping strategy, helping to deal with stress or improve interpersonal functioning [17] [18].…”

Alexithymia and Pathological Gambling: The Mediating Role of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation

“…İlgili literatür incelendiğinde, aleksitimi ve psikolojik belirtiler arasında anlamlı iliş-kilerin olduğu görülmekte (Honkalampi 2000, Courty 2015 ve aleksitiminin bağımlılık davranışları için önemli risk faktörlerinden biri olduğu belirtilmektedir (Taylor ve ark. 1997, Evren ve ark. 2008).…”

Relationship of Internet Addiction Severity with Depression, Anxiety, and Alexithymia, Temperament and Character in University Students

“…24 Studies that have evaluated the relationship of alexithymia with temperament and character found that high HA, low SD, low RD, and high ST were associated with alexithymia in psychiatric inpatients and outpatients, 25 a sample group of healthy college students, 26 and alcoholdependent inpatients. 27 Thus, alexithymia was related to both the temperament and the character dimensions of personality, [25][26][27] indicating that both genetic and environmental factors may contribute to alexithymia development. Finally, statedependent mood and anxiety may mediate the relationship between alexithymia and personality.…”