Alexithymia as Predictor of Treatment Outcome in Patients with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Porcelli, Piero; Bagby, R. Michael; Taylor, Graeme J.; Carne, Massimo De; Leandro, Gioacchino; Todarello, Orlando

doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000089064.13681.3b

Cited by 133 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Future predictive studies will clarify if alexithymia is a health risk factor that makes an individual vulnerable to various illnesses, such as depression, and if alexithymia is clinically useful as a predictor of treatment outcome, as recently has been suggested based on empirical clinical studies [12, 14]. There are interesting theoretical suggestions concerning the research methodology in assessing the clinical changes in patients’ symptoms and behaviour by shifting from older psychometric models to more flexible clinimetrics [25, 26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temporal Stability of Alexithymia Over a Five-Year Period in Outpatients with Major Depression

Saarijärvi

Salminen

Toikka

2006

Psychother Psychosom

125

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Background: Previous research on alexithymia and depression has led to a controversy over whether alexithymia should be viewed as a state-dependent phenomenon or as a stable personality trait. The aim of this 5-year follow-up study was to examine the temporal stability of alexithymia in outpatients suffering from major depression. Methods: The study population comprised 116 (49 male and 67 female) outpatients with major depression. Alexithymic features were assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the degree of depression with the Beck Depression Inventory. The patients were retested after a period of 5 years. Results: Mean alexithymia and depression scores decreased significantly over the 5-year period. Alexithymia and depression were associated with each other, but the high test-retest correlations in the TAS-20 scores indicate relative stability of alexithymia. The three factors of alexithymia behaved differently. Difficulty in identifying feelings and difficulty in describing feelings were associated with alleviation of depressive symptoms, whereas externally oriented thinking was not. Conclusions: Alexithymia seems to be related with the severity of depression in outpatients with major depression, but it also shows relative stability over 5 years. Our findings support the view that the alexithymia construct represents a stable personality trait, but is also a state-dependent phenomenon.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Porcelli et al [12 ]have shown that in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders and depressive symptoms, baseline alexithymia and depression emerged as significant predictors of treatment outcome. Relative to depression alexithymia was the stronger predictor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Stability of Alexithymia Over a Five-Year Period in Outpatients with Major Depression

Saarijärvi

Salminen

Toikka

2006

Psychother Psychosom

125

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“…Alexithymia predicts poorer outcomes of treatment for anxiety and somatoform disorders (Bach & Bach, 1995), depression (Ogrodniczuk, Piper, & Joyce, 2004), alcoholism Loas, Fremaux, Otmani, Lecercle, & Delahousse, 1997), functional gastrointestinal disorders (Porcelli et al, 2003(Porcelli et al, , 2004, and mixed psychiatric disorders (McCallum, Piper, Ogrodniczuk, & Joyce, 2003). Another study found that alexithymia predicted poorer outcomes of group psychotherapy for complicated grief, and this effect was mediated by the therapists' negative responses to alexithymic patients (Ogrodniczuk, Piper, & Joyce, 2005).…”

Section: Does Alexithymia Influence Treatment Process and Outcomes?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Assessment of Alexithymia in Medical Settings: Implications for Understanding and Treating Health Problems

Lumley

Neely

Burger

2007

Journal of Personality Assessment

415

360

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“…Only few studies [6,7,8] examined both absolute stability (i.e., the extent to which personality scores change over time) and relative stability (i.e., the extent to which the relative differences among individuals remain the same over time) of alexithymia, and only two studies also examined whether changes in alexithymia scores were related to changes in psychological distress [7, 8]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Picardi

Toni

Caroppo

2005

Psychother Psychosom

124

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Background: Controversy still exists concerning the stability of the alexithymia construct. Also, although alexithymia has been found to be related in a theoretically meaningful way to other personality constructs such as the ‘Big Five’ factors, few studies have investigated its relationship with influential constructs such as temperament and character, and attachment security. Methods: Two hundred twenty-one undergraduate and graduate students were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Zung Depression Scale (ZDS), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-125), the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), and the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire. After 1 month, 115 participants completed again the TAS-20, STAI, and ZDS. Results: Alexithymia was only moderately correlated with depression and anxiety. Both the absolute and relative stability of TAS-20 total and subscale scores was high, and a negligible portion of their change over time was accounted for by changes in depression or anxiety. In separate multiple regression models including also gender, age, depression and anxiety, TAS-20 total and subscale scores were correlated with low energy/extraversion, low emotional stability, openness, low friendliness/agreeableness; harm avoidance, low self-directedness, low cooperativeness, low reward dependence; attachment-related avoidance and anxiety. Conclusions: Our findings lend support for both absolute and relative stability of alexithymia, corroborate an association between alexithymia and insecure attachment, and contribute to a coherent placing of alexithymia in the broader theoretical network of personality constructs.

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Alexithymia as Predictor of Treatment Outcome in Patients with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Cited by 133 publications

References 40 publications

Temporal Stability of Alexithymia Over a Five-Year Period in Outpatients with Major Depression

Temporal Stability of Alexithymia Over a Five-Year Period in Outpatients with Major Depression

The Assessment of Alexithymia in Medical Settings: Implications for Understanding and Treating Health Problems

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

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