Objective A developmental model of alexithymia in relation to alcohol‐related risk was examined. Method Validated indices of parental bonding, adult attachment, alexithymia, theory of mind (ToM), alcohol‐related risk, and mood were administered to a nonclinical sample of 286 alcohol‐using men and women. Results Hierarchical regression incorporating demographic and psychosocial variables accounted for 44% of the variance in alexithymia. Modeling indicated a significant path from dysfunctional maternal bonding to insecure adult attachment to alexithymia to risky drinking; a separate path indicated an indirect effect of alexithymia in association between the deficient ToM and risky drinking. Conclusions Findings were consistent with a developmental model where dysfunctional parental bonding in childhood manifests in adulthood as insecure attachment and alexithymia, the latter reflecting the insufficient acquisition of emotion regulation skills; alexithymia, in turn, increases the risk of problematic drinking as an emotion regulation strategy.

Objectives: University students in Australia report higher levels of stress than nonstudents of the same age, with females reporting higher stress than males. The ability to successfully adapt to, and cope with, stressful situations and events, often referred to as resilience, requires social and interpersonal resources as well as the ability to effectively self-regulate emotions. When such resources and abilities are deficient, responses to university stress are likely to be maladaptive. Deficient emotional self-regulation is characteristic of individuals with the subclinical personality trait alexithymia, who also tend to suffer from social and interpersonal difficulties; thus students with alexithymia may be especially susceptible to university stress and associated adverse outcomes of low resilience. The present study examined resilience in relation to alexithymia, university stress, and two common outcomes of the latter in female university students: anxiety and problematic drinking. Method: Validated self-report measures of the relevant constructs were completed online by 136 female university students from two Australian universities. All participants indicated they had English-language proficiency and no history of serious head injury or diagnosed psychological disorder. Results: Serial mediation models indicated that resilience showed the predicted protective relationship to both problematic drinking and anxiety through lower levels of alexithymia and university stress. Conclusions: Findings suggest that students who lack resilience are more likely to report stress at university, as well as associated adverse outcomes such as anxiety and problematic drinking, due to deficiencies in emotional self-regulation and inadequate use of social and interpersonal resources for successful coping. K E Y W O R D Sanxiety, personality, stress, substance abuse and addiction

Alexithymia, fear of intimacy, attachment security, and mood variables were examined as predictors of satisfaction in couple relationships after accounting for age, sex, relationship length, and marital status. Participants were 158 adults (52% women and 48% men) in an ongoing couple relationship for 1-19 years. They completed validated measures of the variables of interest online. Bivariate correlations were significant for all predicted associations. Multiple mediation modelling examined the hypothesis that the low relationship satisfaction reported by those with alexithymia can be explained by fear of intimacy, insecure attachment, and negative affect, after accounting for relevant covariates. Mediation was indicated for fear of intimacy and negative affect. Such factors may merit particular attention by clinicians working with alexithymic clients in couples therapy.

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