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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2024

Open Access 01-12-2024 | Anxiety | Research

The relationship of personality, alexithymia, anxiety symptoms, and odor awareness: a mediation analysis

Authors: Binfeng Zhang, Xiuxia Li, Hongzhen Deng, Peixuan Tan, Wanyong He, Shuling Huang, Lu Wang, Hao Xu, Lei Cao, Guanghui Nie

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2024

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Abstract

Objective

Personality, emotions, and olfaction exhibit partial anatomical overlap in the limbic system structure, establishing potential mechanisms between personality, affective disorders, and olfactory-related aspects. Thus, this study aims to investigate the associations among the Big Five personality traits, alexithymia, anxiety symptoms, and odor awareness.

Methods

A total of 863 college participants were recruited for this study. All participants completed the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory-15, the Odor Awareness Scale (OAS), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener-7. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the hypothesized mediated model.

Results

The findings revealed the majority of significant intercorrelations among the dimensions of the Big Five personality traits, alexithymia, anxiety symptoms, and OAS (|r| = 0.072–0.567, p < 0.05). Alexithymia and anxiety symptoms exhibited a serial mediation effect between neuroticism and OAS (95%CI[0.001, 0.014]), conscientiousness and OAS (95%CI[-0.008, -0.001]), and extraversion and OAS (95%CI[-0.006, -0.001]). Anxiety symptoms mediated the relationship between agreeableness and OAS (95%CI[-0.023, -0.001]) and between openness and OAS (95%CI [0.004, 0.024]).

Conclusion

The mediating roles of alexithymia and anxiety symptoms between the Big Five personality traits and odor awareness support the idea of a certain level of association among personality, emotions, and olfaction, with the underlying role of the limbic system structure. This enhances our understanding of personality, emotions, and olfaction and provides insights for future intervention measures for affective disorders and olfactory dysfunctions.
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Metadata
Title
The relationship of personality, alexithymia, anxiety symptoms, and odor awareness: a mediation analysis
Authors
Binfeng Zhang
Xiuxia Li
Hongzhen Deng
Peixuan Tan
Wanyong He
Shuling Huang
Lu Wang
Hao Xu
Lei Cao
Guanghui Nie
Publication date
01-12-2024
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
Anxiety
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05653-y

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