Alexithymia, Depression and Social Support among Japanese Workers

Abstract

Background: A number of studies have shown that social support has a direct beneficial effect on well-being and also serves as a buffer to protect people from health problems due to excessive stress. Although preliminary studies report a positive relationship of alexithymia both with depression and reduced social support, there is no study examining whether the beneficial effect of social support on depression differs with the presence of alexithymia. Methods: A total of 120 workers aged 19–39 completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to measure alexithymia, the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) to evaluate depressive symptomatology, and the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) to assess job strain based on Karasek’s demand-control-support model. The interrelationship among TAS-20, BDI-II and 3 subscales of JCQ (job demand, control, and support) were examined. Results: A significant association of depression with low support and high alexithymia was observed. Alexithymia was also associated with reduced support. Further, a statistically significant interaction between alexithymia and support in terms of their effect on depression was observed. Nonalexithymic individuals with low support showed a significantly higher depression score than those who received high support, while alexithymics did not differ in their depression score depending on the degree of support. Consistent results were obtained from the logistic regression analysis examining the odds ratio for depression by support by alexithymia; a significantly increased odds ratio for depression associated with low social support was observed only among nonalexithymics. Conclusions: Alexithymic individuals might be unable to benefit from social support because of their cognitive deficits of emotion.

Depression, obesity, and smoking were independently associated with inadequate glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes

“…Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 Alexithymia was assessed by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) (11,14,15,16,18,19,20,21,31,32,33) based on three subscales: 'difficulty identifying feelings', 'difficulty describing feelings', and 'externally oriented thinking'. TAS-20 consists of 20 statements rated from 1 to 5.…”

“…Inadequate metabolic control of diabetes (13), altered immune function (14), altered cortisol responses (15), and changes of C-reactive protein and serum lipid levels (16) are associated with alexithymia, which in turn has been linked with depression, anxiety, stress-related disorders, diabetes, and obesity (11,17,18,19,20). Alexithymia has also been associated with reduced social support, which negatively affects the prognosis of disease and health problems (11,21).…”

Active Job, Healthy Job? Occupational Stress and Depression among Hospital Physicians in Taiwan

“…Besides job strain, Karasek's model also postulates that "high work demands, high job control" situations will enhance workers' active learning and lead to a greater internal locus of control. This model has been a centerpiece of current jobstress research, and there has been a growing number of studies that examine depression among employees by deferring to the demands-control-support model 13,14) ; more specifically, there has also been such research into physicians 15,16) . However, until now, little research has been done on the association between occupational stress and depression among physicians.…”

Suffering at work, emotional repression and musculoskeletal disorders

“…La fréquence de l'alexithymie est associée au sexe masculin, aux âges avancés, au faible niveau d'éducation ou de revenus, aux statuts peu valorisants, à l'isolement social, aux conditions défavorisées dans l'enfance (Kauhanen, 1993 ;Salminen, 1999 ;Mattila, 2006), à la condition de chômeur (Kauhanen, 1993) ou d'ouvrier (Honkalampi, 2004). (Badura, 2003 ;Wang, 2011), dépression (Honkalampi, 2000 ;Kojima, 2003 ;Honkalampi, 2004 ;Lipsanen, 2004 ;Wang, 2011), burnout (Mattilla, 2007, troubles somatoformes (Sayar, 2001 ;De Gucht, 2003 ;Waller, 2004 ;Mattila, 2008), hypertension artérielle (Todarello, 1995), psoriasis (Richards, 2005 ;Willemsen, 2008 ;Masmoudi, 2009), alopécie, dermite atopique, vitiligo et urticaire chronique (Willemsen, 2008), douleurs non spécifiques de l'épaule, sans signes objectifs à l'examen (Miranda, 2005), plaintes somatiques (Halpern, 2012).…”