Alexithymia: Its prevalence and correlates in a British undergraduate sample

Abstract

Some qualified support was found for the relevance of early maternal bonding to later difficulties processing emotions. The presence of greater alexithymia in females, and female science students in particular, was discussed in reference to similar observations elsewhere. There was also an understandable relationship between 'difficulty identifying feelings' (TAS) and both depersonalization/derealization and absorption (DES).

Alexithymia and Somatization in Depressed Patients: The Role of the Type of Somatic Symptom Attribution

“…In the literature, some studies are consistent with our results, while other studies report significant correlations with alexithymia and male sex, older age, low level of education, and lower socioeconomic level (11,12,40,41).The correlation between alexithymia and sociodemographic variables remains a controversial issue and, due to conflicting results, it has not been possible to draw a firm conclusion. However, the higher number of female patients in the alexithymic group in our study is in contrast with studies where more alexithymic patients are male; our study is noteworthy in this regard.…”

Genetic influences on alexithymia and their relationship with depressive symptoms

“…Most of these studies pointed to a role of childhood family factors [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Although such factors seem to be entirely environmental in nature, in recent years behavioral genetic studies revealed that the exposure to many features of the family environment is at least partly under genetic influence [12,13].…”

Alexithymia and Its Relationships with Dissociative Experiences, Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disturbances in a Non-Clinical Female Sample

“…In fact, it should be emphasized that there is a conceptual similarity between dissociation and alexithymia: both can be described as a failure to integrate perceptions and memory, or emotions, into the stream of the whole conscious experience; moreover, both phenomena occur to some degree in normal individuals and are more prevalent in persons with some mental disorders (Mason et al 2005). As with alexithymia, dissociative experiences are strategies that may be considered as a coping mechanism to alleviate painful emotions (Tutkun et al 2004).…”

“…As with alexithymia, dissociative experiences are strategies that may be considered as a coping mechanism to alleviate painful emotions (Tutkun et al 2004). However, even if a certain coexistence has been found between dissociation and alexithymia, some studies indicate that they are two distinct even if somewhat overlapping phenomena (Wise et al 2000;Lipsanen et al 2004;Mason et al 2005).…”