An evaluation of the absolute and relative stability of alexithymia in women with breast cancer

Luminet, Olivier; Rokbani, L; Ogez, David; Jadoulle, Vincent

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2007.01.003

Cited by 72 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Eight studies provided information about staging, without including the stages in the analysis [23,24,25,26,33,35,36,37]; one specified that curative cases were included [34] and seven provided no information about the stages [19,22,27,32,38,39,40]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In four studies alexithymia was assessed before cancer diagnosis, but no information was provided about the existence of other diseases or treatments [19,23,24,36]. Two studies specified whether patients were in palliative or curative treatment [33,35], one that alexithymia was assessed before surgery [38], one that patients underwent surgery and that analyses were controlled for adjuvant therapy [34], and four provided no information about treatment [22,32,39,40]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alexithymia in Cancer Patients: Review of the Literature

Vries

Forni

Voellinger

et al. 2012

Psychother Psychosom

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Objective: To summarize the literature on alexithymia in cancer patients. Methods: The empirical literature published between 1972 and January 2010 was searched through MEDLINE, PSYINFO, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Key words were: alexithymia, affective symptoms, cancer, neoplasms. Results: The search identified 16 relevant studies which are methodologically problematic and show conflicting results. However, several interesting hypotheses emerge such as a possible link between alexithymia and the immune system, between alexithymia and quality of life, or between alexithymia, anxiety and depression. The question to what degree alexithymia in cancer patients is a trait or a state cannot be answered by these studies. Conclusions: A lack of methodologically sound studies and the large variations of results among studies suggest that the role of alexithymia in patients with cancer deserves more systematic research. Consequently, studies are needed which investigate the nature (state or trait) of alexithymia, its impact on cancer development and progression, as well as its influence on compliance and on the underestimation of psychological distress and psychiatric outcome in cancer patients.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia in Cancer Patients: Review of the Literature

Vries

Forni

Voellinger

et al. 2012

Psychother Psychosom

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“…This makes it hard to know to what point the information provided, especially concerning attachment preferences, is conditioned by the traumatic experience of the illness itself, which may have put to the test or brought to light dysfunctional relationships that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Both attachment and alexithymia are considered relatively stable traits (Ludwig et al, 2014;Luminet et al, 2007), but they may vary depending on life events.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the relationship between cancer and alexithymia has been addressed more to find out its etiological role as a mediator in immune system functioning (Kojima, 2012;Manna et al, 2007), while its influence on quality of life has been explored less. Some studies on breast cancer note a negative effect of alexithymia on well-being (De Vries, Forni, Voellinger, & Stiefel, 2012) through other variables, such as high anxiety and depression (Luminet, Rokbani, Ogez, & Jadoulle, 2007), little social support (Boinon et al, 2012), illnessrelated stress (Jensen-Johansen et al, 2013) or pain (Porcelli, Tulipani, Maiello, Cilenti, & Todarello, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

Coordinación emocional en el afrontamiento del cáncer: alexitimia, apego y estrategias de afrontamiento como predictores de bienestar emocional en mujeres sometidas a radioterapia

Alonso¹,

Ezama²,

Gómez³

2017

Rev. iberoam. psicol. salud

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ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to deepen our understanding of how to support the emotional well-being of patients subjected to cancer treatment. It was based on the idea that cancer and its treatment make vital demand on the patient and that successful adjustment to their new situation requires good emotional coordination with those closest to them. In a cross-sectional study, 54 women with cancer (breast and lymphoma) about to begin radiotherapy reported on questionnaires on symptom severity, coping strategies, alexithymia, attachment, affect, and emotional well-being. Predictive value of the rest of the variables on affect and well-being was analyzed by multiple linear regression. Perceived severity of symptoms was relevant for predicting affect and emotional well-being. Strong Fear of rejection and abandonment was the best predictor of negative affect, while the alexithymia component Difficulty identifying feelings was the best predictor of positive affect. A problem-solving coping style was also relevant for positive and negative affect. The interpersonal nature of the variables studied is discussed, along with the need to include them to prevent risk of worse adjustment to the consequences of the illness. KEYWORDS: Alexithymia, Attachment, Coping with cancer, Psychological well-being.Coordinación emocional en el afrontamiento del cáncer: alexitimia, apego y estrategias de afrontamiento como predictores de bienestar emocional en mujeres sometidas a radioterapia RESUMEN. El objetivo del estudio es aportar conocimientos sobre cómo favorecer el bienestar emocional de pacientes en tratamiento por cáncer. Se parte de que el cáncer exige enfrentarse a tareas vitales para cuya resolución exitosa se requiere una buena coordinación emocional con las personas cercanas. En un estudio transversal, 54 mujeres con cáncer (mama y linfoma) a punto de comenzar radioterapia informaron a través de cuestionarios sobre: gravedad de los síntomas, modos de afrontamiento de la enfermedad, alexitimia, vínculo de apego, afectos positivos y negativos y bienestar emocional. Se analizó mediante regresión lineal múltiple el valor predictivo sobre los afectos y el bienestar del resto de variables. La gravedad percibida de los síntomas resulta relevante para predecir los afectos y el bienestar emocional. Un alto Temor al rechazo y al abandono es el mejor predictor de los afectos negativos, mientas el componente de la alexitimia Dificultad para identificar emociones lo es de los positivos. El estilo de afrontamiento orientado a la solución también resulta relevante para los afectos positivos y negativos. Se discute sobre el carácter interpersonal de las variables estudiadas y sobre la necesidad de incluirlas en la prevención del riesgo de peor ajuste a las consecuencias de la enfermedad.

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“…Alexithymia and depression are highly associated [4][5][6], and alexithymia may increase vulnerability to depressive symptoms [7,8]. The alexithymia construct has assumed to be a stable personality trait rather than a state-dependent phenomenon [9][10][11][12]. According to Tolmunen et al [7], both the absolute and relative stability of alexithymia in the general population are high, even for a long followup period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of an Early Rehabilitation on Alexithymia among First Ever Depressive Occupational Health Care Clients

2014

J Depress Anxiety

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Objectives: Depression is a common psychiatric disorder. Alexithymia and depression are highly associated. We explored the impact of an early vocationally orientated, eclectic rehabilitative intervention on alexithymia among clients with first ever diagnosed depressive episode. Methods:Clients from occupational health care units were screened for depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. The participants were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received eclectic early rehabilitative intervention and the control group was treated as usual. The intervention (N=134) and control groups (N=100) were compared using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) at the baseline and after one year follow-up. Results:The prevalence of alexithymia decreased both in the intervention group (from 20.1% to 18.9%) and in the control group (from 16.0% to 7.1%). The prevalence of alexithymia was significantly lower at the follow up in the control group than in the intervention group (p=0.010). The changes in the mean scores of the four alexithymia variables between the groups were not statistically significant after adjusting for confounding factors. Conclusions:The findings were against our hypothesis that alexithymia would diminish in the intervention group more than in the control group. There are several explanations for this unexpected result. We believe that the reasons were that the intervention was too short and that the group-shaped method was too demanding for the subjects with alexithymia.

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An evaluation of the absolute and relative stability of alexithymia in women with breast cancer

Cited by 72 publications

References 53 publications

Alexithymia in Cancer Patients: Review of the Literature

Alexithymia in Cancer Patients: Review of the Literature

Coordinación emocional en el afrontamiento del cáncer: alexitimia, apego y estrategias de afrontamiento como predictores de bienestar emocional en mujeres sometidas a radioterapia

The Effect of an Early Rehabilitation on Alexithymia among First Ever Depressive Occupational Health Care Clients

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