Being alexithymic: Necessity or convenience. Negative emotionality × avoidant coping interactions and alexithymia

Bilotta, Elena; Giacomantonio, Mauro; Leone, Luigi; Mancini, Francesco; Coriale, Giovanna

doi:10.1111/papt.12079

Cited by 31 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Ability deficit alexithymia by itself, however, fails to explain why some people's overall levels of alexithymia often increase during periods of distress (e.g., Luminet, Bagby, & Taylor, 2001;Luminet, Rokbani, Ogez, & Jadoulle, 2007), or recent findings that the association between alexithymia and psychiatric symptoms is sometimes mediated by experiential avoidance (e.g., Bilotta, Giacomantonio, Leone, Mancini, & Coriale, 2015;Panayiotou et al, 2015). Recent findings, thus, suggest that some difficulties at the attention and appraisal stages of emotion valuation may also be caused by what we call avoidance alexithymia.…”

Section: And the Toronto Structuredmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…As such, from our data, we can only comment on the latent structure of the construct rather than the mechanisms underlying this structure. There is a growing body of work supporting the role of emotion schemas (e.g., Lane et al, 1996;Luminet et al, 2006;Lundh et al, 2002;Suslow & Junghanns, 2002;Vermeulen et al, 2006) and experiential avoidance (e.g., Bilotta et al, 2015;Coriale et al, 2012;Panayiotou et al, 2015) in alexithymia, but more research of this type is needed to enhance understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the construct.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Establishing the theoretical components of alexithymia via factor analysis: Introduction and validation of the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia

Preece

Becerra

Allan

et al. 2017

Personality and Individual Differences

174

185

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Alexithymia is an important mental health construct, but there is continuing debate regarding its definition and measurement. We attempt to resolve this definitional uncertainty in two ways. Firstly, we trace the development of the alexithymia construct, focusing particularly on what we call the Toronto and Amsterdam models, and examine a body of empirical research that shows strong support for the hypothesis that alexithymia consists of three components (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking). Based on these components, we formulate an alternate theoretical model of alexithymia, the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia, that aligns alexithymia theory with recent advances in the broader emotion regulation field. Secondly, we examine the construct\u27s latent structure by factor analysing data from multiple psychometric measures administered to a community sample (N = 368). Our results suggest statistical support for our model, rather than the Toronto or Amsterdam models. We end by discussing how our model accounts for several unresolved issues within the alexithymia field, including the construct\u27s relation to imaginal capacities and emotional reactivity, whether alexithymia is a deficit or a defence, how it might be addressed in psychiatric treatment, and the discordance that has existed between alexithymia theory and alexithymia measurement. Ethical statement Ethics approval for this project was granted by the Edith Cowan University Human Research Ethics Committee. The guidelines of this committee were followed. All participants provided informed consent for their data to be used

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Section: And the Toronto Structuredmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing the theoretical components of alexithymia via factor analysis: Introduction and validation of the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia

Preece

Becerra

Allan

et al. 2017

Personality and Individual Differences

174

185

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some studies have suggested deficits in mentalization and theory of mind in AVPD, 64 , 78 but it has also been noted that avoidance of awareness of emotions may also be employed as a psychological defense strategy to protect against distress, rather than reflecting a cognitive deficit. 77 – 79 Applying this to AVPD, it would mean that the individual might protect themselves against the pain of rejection through a general avoidance of emotions. This would be consistent with the reported association between alexithymia and AVPD.…”

Section: Phenomenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Avoidant personality disorder: current insights

Lampe¹,

Malhi²

2018

PRBM

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Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) is a relatively common disorder that is associated with significant distress, impairment, and disability. It is a chronic disorder with an early age at onset and a lifelong impact. Yet it is underrecognized and poorly studied. Little is known regarding the most effective treatment. The impetus for research into this condition has waxed and waned, possibly due to concerns regarding its distinctiveness from other disorders, especially social anxiety disorder (SAD), schizoid personality disorder, and dependent personality disorder. The prevailing paradigm subscribes to the “severity continuum hypothesis”, in which AVPD is viewed essentially as a severe variant of SAD. However, areas of discontinuity have been described, and there is support for retaining AVPD as a distinct diagnostic category. Recent research has focused on the phenomenology of AVPD, factors of possible etiological significance such as early parenting experiences, attachment style, temperament, and cognitive processing. Self-concept, avoidant behavior, early attachments, and attachment style may represent points of difference from SAD that also have relevance to treatment. Additional areas of research not focused specifically on AVPD, including the literature on social cognition as it relates to attachment and personality style, report findings that are promising for future research aimed at better delineating AVPD and informing treatment.

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“…Increased alexithymia in males is associated with increased intensity of positive affect and increased frequency of negative affect, and the authors suggest that this finding is symptomatic of a cognitive deficit in the processing of emotional information [15]. Another study in healthy Italian university students found an association between avoidant-coping strategies, negative emotionality, and alexithymia, suggesting that alexithymia may be adopted as a method of coping with negative affect or as a method of avoiding negative emotions [16]. …”

Section: Alexithymia Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia and Addiction: A Review and Preliminary Data Suggesting Neurobiological Links to Reward/Loss Processing

et al. 2016

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Alexithymia, characterized by impairments in emotional awareness, is common among individuals with substance use disorders. Research on alexithymia suggests that it is a trait that may contribute to substance dependence. This paper will review alexithymia as it relates to substance use and substance use disorders, considering its potential role in the maintenance and treatment of these disorders. We will then describe how neural correlates associated with alexithymia may shed light on how alexithymia relates to addiction. Finally, we present preliminary fMRI data that examines how alexithymia may relate to the neurobiological correlates of reward/loss processing in individuals with cocaine dependence. While preliminary, these findings suggest a role of alexithymia in reward anticipation in cocaine-dependent individuals.

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Being alexithymic: Necessity or convenience. Negative emotionality × avoidant coping interactions and alexithymia

Abstract: Alexithymia may develop from habitual avoidance, regardless of negative emotionality. Practitioners could consider addressing negative emotional regulation or automatic and habitual avoidant responses in dealing with alexithymic patients.

Cited by 31 publications

References 71 publications

Establishing the theoretical components of alexithymia via factor analysis: Introduction and validation of the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia

Establishing the theoretical components of alexithymia via factor analysis: Introduction and validation of the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia

Avoidant personality disorder: current insights

Alexithymia and Addiction: A Review and Preliminary Data Suggesting Neurobiological Links to Reward/Loss Processing

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