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Alexithymia and anxiety: compounded relationships? A psychometric study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

S. Berthoz ,
S. Consoli ,
F. Perez-Diaz  and
R. Jouvent
S. Berthoz
Affiliation:
CNRS UMR 7593, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpétrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013Paris
S. Consoli
Affiliation:
Unité Médico-Psychologique, Hôpital Broussais, 75014Paris, France
F. Perez-Diaz
Affiliation:
CNRS UMR 7593, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpétrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013Paris
R. Jouvent
Affiliation:
CNRS UMR 7593, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpétrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013Paris
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Summary

This study is a careful examination of the relationships between different components of the alexithymia construct and state versus trait anxiety. In order to study the relations between anxiety and alexithymia in a subclinical population, we administered to 125 female college students a test battery including measures of alexithymia (TAS26), state and trait anxiety (STAI) and depression (QD2A). Results indicated positive correlations between depression, anxiety (state and trait) and alexithymia scores. Partial correlations revealed a tight link between trait anxiety and alexithymia. Furthermore, in agreement with the view that alexithymia is a multidimensional construct, the various alexithymia dimensions were found to be diversely correlated with anxiety. On the basis of partial correlation analyses, a descriptive model of the relationships between depression, state anxiety, trait anxiety and alexithymia was postulated. This model was confirmed by pathways analyses.

Keywords

alexithymiadepressionmultidimensionalityscalesstate anxietytrait anxiety
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 14 , Issue 7 , November 1999 , pp. 372 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 1999

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