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Alexithymia in a sample of alcohol-dependent patients: Clinical correlations and cognitive patterns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

R. Vecchiotti ,
L. Orsolini ,
M. Panichi ,
M. Marconi  and
A. Valchera
R. Vecchiotti*
Affiliation:
Villa S. Giuseppe Hospital, Hermanas Hospitalarias, Department of Psychiatry, Ascoli Piceno, Italy Polyedra, Research, Teramo, Italy Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht, Netherlands
L. Orsolini
Affiliation:
Villa S. Giuseppe Hospital, Hermanas Hospitalarias, Department of Psychiatry, Ascoli Piceno, Italy Polyedra, Research, Teramo, Italy Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht, Netherlands University of Hertfordshire, School of Life and Medical Sciences, Hatfield-Herts, United Kingdom
M. Panichi
Affiliation:
Villa S. Giuseppe Hospital, Hermanas Hospitalarias, Department of Psychiatry, Ascoli Piceno, Italy Polyedra, Research, Teramo, Italy
M. Marconi
Affiliation:
Villa S. Giuseppe Hospital, Hermanas Hospitalarias, Department of Psychiatry, Ascoli Piceno, Italy
A. Valchera
Affiliation:
Villa S. Giuseppe Hospital, Hermanas Hospitalarias, Department of Psychiatry, Ascoli Piceno, Italy Polyedra, Research, Teramo, Italy
*
* Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Alexithymia represents a personality construct, characterized by an inability in identifying and verbally describing own and others’ emotions. According to the recent research on emotional dysregulation and the alexithymic construct, it has been described a positive correlation between alcoholism and alexithymia. The present study aims to evaluate the presence of alexithymia in a sample of alcohol dependant patients and, therefore, analyze how the presence of these alexithymic traits may influence/interact with a range of cognitive processes such as the anger rumination, metacognitive capabilities and dissociative experiences.

Methods

A sample of 40 alcohol dependant inpatients affected with alcohol dependence and alcohol-related issues were recruited, evaluated and compared with a sample of 40 healthy controls. A clinical evaluation and a complete clinical and psychological assessment were carried out in order to investigate alcohol-related clinical patterns, alexithymia construct, anxiety and depression symptomatology and cognitive pattern.

Results

Subjects with alcohol addiction show higher total scores in all tests except the scale that evaluates anxiety, compared to healthy controls. Finally, a factorial ANOVA analysis demonstrated that alcoholism seems to be determined by the lack of emotional recognition from which derives a dissociative state, which consequently generates a depressive rumination.

Conclusions

According to the recent literature, the present study identifies a significant proportion of alexithymic patients within the sample of subjects affected by alcohol-related disorders. Other clinical variables (i.e. depression, pathological anxiety-related worry, anger rumination, dissociation and metacognitive capabilities) mirror a specific cognitive pattern in the sample of alcoholics rather than the healthy group.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
EV117
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 33 , Issue S1: Abstracts of the 24th European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2016 , pp. S321
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2016
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