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BMC Psychiatry

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Open Access 01-12-2011 | Research article

Alexithymia and emotional regulation: A cluster analytical approach

Authors: Jie Chen, Ting Xu, Jin Jing, Raymond CK Chan

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2011

Abstract

Background

Alexithymia has been a familiar conception of psychosomatic phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were subtypes of alexithymia associating with different traits of emotional expression and regulation among a group of healthy college students.

Methods

1788 healthy college students were administered with the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and another set of questionnaires assessing emotion status and regulation. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted on the three factor scores of the TAS-20. The cluster solution was cross-validated by the corresponding emotional regulation.

Results

The results indicated there were four subtypes of alexithymia, namely extrovert-high alexithymia (EHA), general-high alexithymia (GHA), introvert-high alexithymia (IHA) and non-alexithymia (NA). The GHA was characterized by general high scores on all three factors, the IHA was characterized by high scores on difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings but low score on externally oriented cognitive style of thinking, the EHA was characterized by high score on externally oriented cognitive style of thinking but normal score on the others, and the NA got low score on all factors. The GHA and IHA were dominant by suppressive character of emotional regulation and expression with worse emotion status as compared to the EHA and NA.

Conclusions

The current findings suggest there were four subtypes of alexithymia characterized by different emotional regulation manifestations.

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The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/11/33/prepub

Title: Alexithymia and emotional regulation: A cluster analytical approach
Authors: Jie Chen
Ting Xu
Jin Jing
Raymond CK Chan
Publication date: 01-12-2011
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2011
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-11-33

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Alexithymia and emotional regulation: A cluster analytical approach

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

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