Prediction of Alexithymic Characteristics from Physiological, Personality, and Subjective Measures

Martin, John; Pihl, Robert O.; Young, Simon N.; Ervin, Frank R.; Tourjman, Smadar Valérie

doi:10.1159/000287939

Cited by 21 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…alone or with family, could be an indication of social support and may be another mediator that fostered depression. In studying a nonpatient population, Martin et al [1986] found social introversion, a fac tor which may foster lack of social support, to be one of the variables in a regression model that predicted alexithymia measured by the SSPS. Less social support may be related to living alone, and there is data to suggest that less social support augments de pression [Brown and Harris, 1978].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia: Relationship to Severity of Medical Illness and Depression

Wise

Jani

Kass

et al. 1988

Psychother Psychosom

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The relationship of depression and the severity of medical illness to alexithymia was investigated in 75 medically ill patients seen in psychiatric consultation. Both depression and living alone predicted alexithymia but severity of medical illness was not related to an individual’s alexithymic characteristics measured by the revised Schalling-Sifneos Scale. The implications of the findings are discussed in relationship to previous data regarding alexithymia in a psychiatric consultation population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia: Relationship to Severity of Medical Illness and Depression

Wise

Jani

Kass

et al. 1988

Psychother Psychosom

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“…The evidence from laboratory studies of the responses of alexithymic individuals to stress does not, however, provide unequivocal support for the prediction of increased sympathetic activity. Although some authors have concluded that affected individuals do experience elevated autonomic activity in response to stressinducing experimental paradigms~Martin & Pihl, 1986;Martin, Pihl, Young, Ervin, & Tourjman, 1986;Rabavilas, 1987!, others have found evidence that contradicts this notion, and some have even concluded that alexithymic individuals exhibit less autonomic reactivity than controls under conditions of stress~Hyer, Woods, Summers, & Boudewyns, 1990;Newton & Contrada, 1994;Papciak, Feuerstein, & Spiegel, 1985!. The inconsistency of these findings may be due in part to the use of various, poorly standardized measures of alexithymia.…”

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confidence: 99%

Emotion‐processing deficit in alexithymia

1999

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College undergraduates were identified as alexithymic or control, based on their scores on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS; Taylor, Ryan, & Bagby, 1985). All subjects were presented standardized emotion-eliciting color slides for 6 s while facial muscle, heart rate, and skin conductance activity were recorded. Stimuli were presented a second time while subjects were asked to provide emotion self-reports using a paper-and-pencil version of the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM; Lang, 1980) and to generate a list of words describing their emotional reaction to each slide. Consistent with the definition of alexithymia as a syndrome characterized, in part, by a deficit in the identification of emotion states, high TAS subjects supplied fewer emotion-related words than did controls to describe their response to the slides. Alexithymics also indicated less variation along the arousal dimension of the SAM, produced fewer specific skin conductance responses and showed less heart rate deceleration to the slides, regardless of category. No valence-related differences between alexithymic and control subjects were noted.

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“…Results pertaining to nonclinical subjects' alexithymic orientations reveal that persons having high, but nonclinical, ranges of alexithymia lack an awareness of affect cues to guide communication; lack implementation of emotion in personal relationships; and lack intensity of emotional arousal (Yelsma, 1992), in addition to having diminished self-esteem (Yelsma, 1995). Martin, Pihl, Young, Ervin, and Tourjman (1986) investigated the physiological and psychological characteristics of alexithymic subjects' interpersonal behaviors. Conclusions drawn from their comprehensive overview of individuals having high scores on assessments of alexithymia suggest an "elevated level of sympathetic activity, reduced expression and experience of affect relative to neuroticism, poor interpersonal skills marked by over control, tension, and withdrawal .…”

Section: Alexithymia and Interpersonal Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family‐of‐origin Expressiveness: Measurement, Meaning, and Relationship to Alexithymia

Yelsma¹,

Hovestadt²,

Anderson³

et al. 2000

J Marital Family Therapy

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The need for research instruments to assess the impact of affective expressiveness within the family is evident, yet few appear to be adequately designed for this purpose. In this article, we present two studies addressing this need. In the first study, the original 40-item Family-of-Origin Scale was administered to 416 students to determine those items that constitute the factor structure. This instrument was designed to assess perceived levels of health in the family of origin but has unsubstantiated construct validity. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the instrument has one major factor, and results from five other studies provide evidence supporting the construct validity. Face validity of this 22-item construct indicates that it assesses an individual's perceived level of global expressive atmosphere within his or her family of origin. In the second study, the new Family-of-Origin Expressive Atmosphere Scale and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale were administered to 295 students. Students' self-reported expressive atmospheres in their family-of-origin scores were significantly correlated with the total scores of alexithymia and each of the three factors: impaired ability to identify feelings, impaired ability to describe feelings, and externally oriented thinking processes. No significant gender differences were found.

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Prediction of Alexithymic Characteristics from Physiological, Personality, and Subjective Measures

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Alexithymia: Relationship to Severity of Medical Illness and Depression

Alexithymia: Relationship to Severity of Medical Illness and Depression

Emotion‐processing deficit in alexithymia

Family‐of‐origin Expressiveness: Measurement, Meaning, and Relationship to Alexithymia

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