Alexithymia, Psychopathology and Alcohol Misuse in Adolescence: A Population Based Study on 3556 Teenagers

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the association between alexithymia and alcohol intake during adolescence, also in relation to psychopathology, in order to identify psychological risk factors for alcohol misuse. Method: 3556 students [mean age (range) 14.5 years (11 -18)] were recruited in the Padua area. Each was administered a set of three questionnaires: the Toronto Alexithymia Scale for children (TAS-20) to measure alexithymia, the Questionnaire Adolescent Saturday evening (QAS) to estimate of alcohol intake, and the Youth Self-Report (YSR 11 -18) to value psychopathology. Results: Externalizing problems appeared to increase with age and with the amount of alcohol consumed, unlike internalizing problems. The prevalence of alexithymia was 18%, decreasing with age, and it was not associated with alcohol consumption, and used except in younger subjects (≤13), for whom a positive correlation was observed between alexithymia, internalizing problems and alcohol intake. Conclusions: Younger adolescents are more psycho-emotionally vulnerable (internalizing problems and alexithymia) and at a greater risk of alcohol misuse.

Psycho-behavioral vulnerability of adolescent binge drinkers

“…It is generally agreed that some models of alcohol consumption, and particularly those associated with a rapid ingestion and intoxication (like binge drinking), are systematically accompanied by physical and psychological damage, and social and behavioral issues (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)19). This was confirmed by the present study, which revealed that mean levels of internalizing, externalizing and total problems increased with larger amounts of alcohol being consumed during a given drinking episode.…”

“…Adolescents are particularly vulnerable, due to rapid and significant psycho-physical changes, they could experience sensations such as discomfort, inadequacy or confusion. These feelings may cause the use of attractive altering substances as regulators (2)(3)(4)(5). The consequences for adolescent "binge drinkers" are numerous, including neurobiological and organic damage, and possibly even severe alterations to the respective cognitive, emotional, behavioral and psychic functional correlates.…”

Low Emotional Awareness as a Transdiagnostic Mechanism Underlying Psychopathology in Adolescence

“…These opposing forces impacting emotion conceptualization across age (i.e., increasing verbal abilities vs. decreasing ease at identifying emotional states) could generate either increased or decreased emotional awareness. In fact, studies on the development of emotional awareness have produced inconsistent results: Some studies show increased emotional awareness across ages 11-18 (Gatta et al, 2014;Säkkinen, Kaltiala-Heino, Ranta, Haataja, & Joukamaa, 2007), but others find decreased emotional awareness with pubertal development (van der Cruijsen, Murphy, & Bird, 2019). If emotional awareness decreases during the transition to adolescence, it might be one factor explaining the well-established increase in risk for psychopathology that emerges transdiagnostically during this period (Kessler et al, 2005).…”

The Impact of Alexithymia on Desire for Alcohol during a Social Stress Test

“…Alexithymia was established as a personality construct in the early 1970s, typified by difficulty in identifying and describing emotions and externally oriented thinking (Sifneos, 1973). The prevalence rate is around 10% of the general population (Mattila, Salminen, Nummi & Joukamaa, 2006) with some European studies finding up to 23% (Gatta et al, 2014). As Alexithymia is characterised by the inability to express emotion, it is consequently associated with a range of somatic and psychiatric issues such as anxiety (Karukivi et al, 2010), depression (Honkalampi et al, 2000), substance abuse disorders (Ghalehban & Besharat, 2011) and problematic alcohol use (Thorberg et al, 2011).…”