History of Alexithymia: The Contributions of Psychoanalysis

Taylor, Graeme J.

doi:10.1017/9781108241595.003

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…We used the Chinese version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to measure the degree of alexithymia. The scale was developed by Taylor (31) and later formed into a Chinese version after cross-cultural debugging by Jin et al (32). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Chinese version of the scale is 0.830.…”

Section: The Toronto Alexithymia Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress in elderly with multiple chronic conditions in China: a network analysis

Shang,

Chen,

Luo

et al. 2023

Front. Psychiatry

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ObjectiveThis study aimed to construct a network structure to investigate the connections between alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress in Chinese older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC), identifying core and bridge symptoms, and comparing the network structure across different levels of alexithymia.MethodsThis study used a cross-sectional survey design and convenience sampling to recruit participants from six cities in Jiangsu Province. The study assessed the levels of alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress in older adults with MCC using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Network analysis was performed using R language to identify core and bridge symptoms in the network and compare the network structure across different levels of alexithymia.ResultsA total of 662 participants were included in the analysis, including 395 men and 267 women. The mean age was 70.37 ± 6.92 years. The finding revealed that the “Difficulty Identifying Feelings” (DIF) node had the highest strength centrality (strength = 2.49) and predictability (rp = 0.76) in the network. The next highest strength centrality was observed for “Meaningless” (strength = 1.50), “Agitated” (strength = 1.47), “Scared” (strength = 1.42), and “No look forward” (strength = 0.75). They were identified as core symptoms. The bridge strength analysis identified “Panic,” “Scared,” “No wind down,” “No initiative,” and “No positive” as the bridge symptoms. There were notable differences in the overall network structure and specific connections between the groups with and without alexithymia (p < 0.05).Conclusion“DIF” is a core node in the network of older adults with MCC, indicating its significance as a potential target for psychological interventions in clinical practice. Preventing and mitigating bridge symptoms such as “panic,” “Scared,” “No wind down,” “No initiative,” and “No positive” can effectively impede the spread of symptom activation, thereby interrupting or severing the connections among comorbidities in older adults. Additionally, compared to non-alexithymia individuals, the psychological issues of older adults with alexithymia require prioritized intervention from healthcare professionals.

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Section: The Toronto Alexithymia Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress in elderly with multiple chronic conditions in China: a network analysis

Shang,

Chen,

Luo

et al. 2023

Front. Psychiatry

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“…Alexithymia was originally proposed by Nemiah and Sifneos (17), to describe the cognitive and emotional deficits of psychosomatic patients in identifying, distinguishing, and expressing their emotions. Since then, this term has been defined as one type of cognition disorders, including having main difficulties in distinguishing and describing emotions (18)(19)(20). More and more studies have linked schizophrenia to alexithymia (21)(22)(23).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia is associated with insomnia in Chinese patients with schizophrenia

Cai,

Jiang,

Tong

et al. 2023

Front. Psychiatry

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BackgroundSleep disorders are prevalent among patients with schizophrenia and are associated with several negative consequences. Although, researchers have recently suggested that sleep disorders have a close correlation with alexithymia, and schizophrenia also has a strong correlation with alexithymia, there have been few studies on the relationships between schizophrenia, sleep disorders and alexithymia. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationships between psychiatric symptoms, alexithymia and sleep problems in patients with schizophrenia so as to provide a reference for the clinical treatment of this comorbidity.MethodsIn total, 977 patients with schizophrenia were recruited for this study. The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was used to assess sleep disorders, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) were used to evaluate clinical symptoms, cognitive functions and the ability to express emotion, respectively.ResultsThe results indicated that the PANSS subscales (G-subscore) and TAS group were risk factors for insomnia in schizophrenia patients (all p < 0.05). The mediation model showed the standardized path coefficients from schizophrenia to alexithymia (β = 0.104, p < 0.001) and from alexithymia to insomnia (β = 0.038, p < 0.001) were statistically significant.ConclusionThe results of this study indicated that alexithymia is associated with sleep disturbance in patients with schizophrenia. These findings may provide a new avenue for the treatment of schizophrenia patients with sleep disorders.

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“…Alexithymia was originally defined as the inability to recognize and verbalize emotions (Sifneos, 1973). A poverty of imagination or of a fantasy world as well as a lack of positive emotions and a high prevalence of negative emotions have also been described as characteristic of alexithymia (Taylor, 2018). Alexithymia is often viewed as a personality trait with a normal distribution among the population (Bagby, Parker & Taylor, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between alexithymia and substance use: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Honkalampi

Jokela

Lehto

et al. 2022

Scandinavian J Psychology

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Alexithymia has been associated with substance use, but the magnitude of the association has not been evaluated and sub‐group differences, if any, are unknown. The aim of this meta‐analysis is to systematically review the association between alexithymia and substance use (alcohol or illicit drugs). We identified studies through a systematic review of PubMed and Web of Science and obtained a total of 52 publications using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale‐20 scale. Random effects meta‐analysis was used to evaluate the overall and sub‐group associations. Of the studies, 50 were cross‐sectional and two longitudinal. Alexithymia was associated with any substance use (Cohen’s d = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49–0.76), with little difference between estimates for use of alcohol or illicit drugs. A stronger association was observed for the alexithymia dimension “Difficulty in Identifying Feelings” (d = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.47–0.81) and “Difficulty in Describing Feelings” (d = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.32–0.55) than for “Externally Oriented Thinking” (d = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.09–0.28). The association was stronger in studies with clinical patient populations (d = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.62–1.05) than in those investigating general or student populations, and in studies with a majority of male rather than female participants. These findings suggest a strong overall association between alexithymia and substance use and a very strong association among clinical patient populations. The association may be stronger with the emotion‐related dimensions than with the cognition‐related dimension of alexithymia. As nearly all the studies were cross‐sectional, more longitudinal studies are needed.

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History of Alexithymia: The Contributions of Psychoanalysis

Cited by 9 publications

References 64 publications

The relationship between alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress in elderly with multiple chronic conditions in China: a network analysis

The relationship between alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress in elderly with multiple chronic conditions in China: a network analysis

Alexithymia is associated with insomnia in Chinese patients with schizophrenia

Association between alexithymia and substance use: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

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