It's in the mix: psychological distress differs between combinations of alexithymic facets.

ABSTRACT: Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying, describing, and communicating one's emotions. The aim of the present study is to examine the usefulness of a typological approach considering the interaction between distinct alexithymic features within a population of high-alexithymic German adults (N = 217). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to test for possible underlying profiles. A 3-profile solution showed the best fit: The profiles can be described as (1) "low": lower load on all facets of alexithymia, (2) "mixed": specific problems on identifying emotions, and (3) "high": higher load on all facets of alexithymia. Moreover, this study tested how these profiles differed in psychological distress. "Mixed" profile, with specific problems on identi

SUBMITTER: Alkan Hartwig E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4228974 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature