Influence of family function on social anxiety among Chinese nursing students: The mediating role of alexithymia

Abstract

Aims This study aims to explore the relationship between family function, alexithymia and social anxiety among Chinese nursing students, especially to determine whether alexithymia acts as a mediator between family function and social anxiety among this social group. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods From January to March 2021, a cross‐sectional study was conducted among 204 Chinese nursing students at a nursing school of a medical university in the Northeastern Region of China. The interaction anxiousness scale, APGAR family function scale and Tronto alexithymia scale were used for measurement of social anxiety, perceived family function and alexithymia respectively. The data were subjected to correlation analysis, multiple linear regression and structural equation modelling (SEM). Results Results indicated that social anxiety score was negatively correlated with perceived family function ( r = −.232), but positively with alexithymia ( r = .307). After controlling for demographic variables, family function and alexithymia could explain 14.5% of the total variance in social anxiety. The SEM results suggested that the effect of family function on social anxiety was partially mediated by alexithymia with a 36.9% mediating effect. Conclusions This study reveals that alexithymia might partially mediate the impact of family function and social anxiety in Chinese nursing students. In this sense, improvement of alexithymia is expected to be an effective strategy to ameliorate the severity social anxiety in Chinese nursing students, especially for those with a dysfunctional family context.

Mental Imagery in the Relationship between Alexithymia and Parental Psychological Control

“…In our sample of Chinese college students, we observed a significant prevalence of alexithymia, reaching 28.72%. This prevalence aligns closely with findings from previous studies conducted in diverse cultural contexts, such as China (31.9% among nursing students) [6], Italy (27.3% among college students) [70], Jordan (24.6% among university students) [71], New York (27.8% for men and 26.8% for women among college-aged students) [72], and Egypt (22% among university students) [73]. Indeed, an increasing number of studies have documented a heightened prevalence of alexithymia in the general population [74] following the COVID-19 pandemic, surpassing the pre-pandemic rate of around 10% [75,76].…”

“…Researches have indicated that alexithymia is associated with a range of conditions, such as eating disorders, depression, schizophrenia, autism, and substance abuse, and it is also commonly observed in the general population [ 5 ]. Studies of alexithymia using a cut-off point from the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) have reported rates ranging from 15.7% to 31.9% in Chinese college students [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Given that different values are attached to emotional awareness and expression in different countries, there might be some variations across different cultures [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

“…Given that different values are attached to emotional awareness and expression in different countries, there might be some variations across different cultures [10][11][12][13][14]. Many factors including family environment and cognitive capacity have been shown to be important for individuals' emotional reactivity and emotional regulation [6,9,[15][16][17][18][19]. Previous studies have demonstrated that parenting styles, particularly controlling styles, are positively correlated with alexithymia [14,20].…”

The Mediating Effect of Students Engagement on Leadership Skills of Full-Time Teachers' Teaching Strategies on Students' Achievement with Financial Difficulties

“…The collaboration between various stakeholders has the potential to engender a heightened level of discernment in relation to academic pursuits, professional placements, and supplementary engagements, thereby augmenting the holistic triumph of a student (Dewitt et. al., 2023, Chu et. al., 2023.…”

Factors that affect levels of alexithymia, empathy and communication skills of nursing students in northern Iran

“…Many researchers believe that psychological, social and biological factors play a role in alexithymia (Obeid et al, 2020 ). Recent studies have focused on alexithymia levels or its effects on other variables (Chu et al, 2022 ; Giulia et al, 2019 ). Empathy is understanding other people's feelings and putting oneself in another person's situation (Bas‐Sarmiento et al, 2019 ).…”