The associations between alexithymia, non‐suicidal self‐injury, and risky drinking: The moderating roles of experiential avoidance and biological sex

Abstract

Alexithymia and experiential avoidance are personality traits regularly identified as correlates of behaviours that serve an emotion regulatory function, including, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and risky drinking. In the current study, we examined whether the relationships between alexithymia, NSSI, and risky drinking are moderated by experiential avoidance and sex. A sample of 778 university students (77.1% female, M age = 22.27, SD = 6.71) completed online questionnaires. For men, a combination of high levels of externally orientated thinking and experiential avoidance was associated with NSSI. Conversely, for women, a combination of high levels of externally orientated thinking but low levels of experiential avoidance was associated with risky drinking. Findings suggest that associations between alexithymia and experiential avoidance with NSSI and risky drinking may differ between men and women. K E Y W O R D Salexithymia, biological sex, experiential avoidance, NSSI, risky drinking

The relationship between self‐harm and alexithymia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The remaining study used the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children (Rieffe, Oosterveld & Terwogt, 2006) which was derived from the TAS20 to be suitable for younger participants. Four studies only reported one or more TAS20 subscales (Difficulty Identifying Feelings [DIF], Difficulty Describing Feelings [DDF], and Externally Orientated Thinking [EOT]) rather than total TAS20 (Anderson & Crowther, 2012; Cerutti, Zuffianò & Spensieri, 2018; Greene, Hasking & Boyes, 2019; Hsu, Chen & Lung, 2013). The other studies all reported total TAS20, with (10 studies) or without (16 studies) the subscale scores.…”

“…Of the eight studies that were based on university student samples, all reported significant and positive associations between self‐harm and alexithymia (total and/or subscales) (Anderson & Crowther, 2012; Borrill, Fox, Flynn & Roger, 2009; Greene et al ., 2019; Hasking & Claes, 2019; Oskis & Borrill, 2019; Paivio & McCulloch, 2004; Polk & Liss, 2007; Wester & King, 2018). Among those that reported the subcomponents of alexithymia, all found DIF to be significantly higher in those with a history of self‐harm (Anderson & Crowther, 2012; Borrill et al ., 2009; Greene et al ., 2019; Oskis & Borrill, 2019). The findings regarding DDF were more mixed with two studies finding a significant positive association (Borrill et al ., 2009; Greene et al ., 2019) and one reporting a non‐significant result (Oskis & Borrill, 2019), while all those which measured EOT reported a non‐significant relationship with self‐harm.…”

“…Among those that reported the subcomponents of alexithymia, all found DIF to be significantly higher in those with a history of self‐harm (Anderson & Crowther, 2012; Borrill et al ., 2009; Greene et al ., 2019; Oskis & Borrill, 2019). The findings regarding DDF were more mixed with two studies finding a significant positive association (Borrill et al ., 2009; Greene et al ., 2019) and one reporting a non‐significant result (Oskis & Borrill, 2019), while all those which measured EOT reported a non‐significant relationship with self‐harm. Polk and Liss (2007) found that DIF and DDF, together with anxiety, sleep disturbance and sexual and emotional abuse were strongly correlated with a discriminant function which distinguished between a group of university students with no history of self‐harm and a group of internet users who had self‐harmed.…”

A comparison of the associations between alexithymia and both non‐suicidal self‐injury and risky drinking: The roles of explicit outcome expectancies and refusal self‐efficacy

“…A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that the association between alexithymia and NSSI may be stronger for women (Greene et al, 2020) and another study (Greene et al, 2019) found that men who had difficulties describing feelings were more likely to engage in risky drinking than NSSI. It is possible that these sex differences may be explained by different anticipated outcomes of NSSI and risky drinking for men and women.…”

“…Regardless of the shared emotion regulatory function, limited research has directly compared NSSI to risky drinking (e.g., Greene, Hasking, & Boyes, 2019;Hasking, 2017;Kingston et al, 2010). Yet, by taking a transdiagnostic approach to identify and understand shared factors between NSSI and risky drinking, we can target these shared factors in intervention initiatives and possibly reduce the odds of an individual shifting between dysregulated behaviours (Duggan & Heath, 2014).…”