a Bond University , Gold Coast , Queensland , Australia.
b Innlandet Hospital Trust , Brumunddal , Norway.
Subst Use Misuse. 2019;54(4):572-582. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2018.1524490. Epub 2018 Oct 31.
Alexithymia, a relatively stable personality trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings and externally oriented thinking, has been linked to both substance use disorders and eating disorders. In nonclinical samples, alexithymia is associated with heavier consumption of alcohol and caffeine. Both are psychoactive drugs, but unlike most drugs they are typically consumed in the context of palatable and calorie-rich products.
Given the association of alexithymia with disordered eating, the present study evaluated the hypothesis that heavier consumption of caffeine by those with high levels of alexithymia may be motivated by the palatable and caloric aspects of common caffeine products rather than by drug-seeking.
There were 224 participants aged 17-63 years who completed instruments assessing demographics, alexithymia, emotional eating, caffeine consumption, alcohol consumption, negative moods, and reward sensitivity.
As predicted, alexithymia was positively related to emotional eating as well as consumption of caffeine and alcohol, and alexithymia was a significant predictor of caffeine intake in regression models. However, there was no indication of mediation by emotional eating.
Alexithymia is characterized by deficient emotion regulation and negative moods, hence use of drugs and/or foods to regulate emotions, combined with poor interoceptive awareness, may account for excessive consumption of drugs or foods as alternative emotion regulation strategies in those with high levels of this trait.
述情障碍是一种相对稳定的人格特质，其特征是难以识别和描述情绪以及具有外向思维，它与物质使用障碍和饮食障碍都有关联。在非临床样本中，述情障碍与酒精和咖啡因的摄入量更大有关。两者都是精神活性药物，但与大多数药物不同，它们通常在美味和富含卡路里的产品中消费。
鉴于述情障碍与饮食失调有关，本研究验证了这样一种假设，即高水平述情障碍者摄入更多的咖啡因可能是因为常见的咖啡因产品具有美味和高热量的特点，而不是为了寻求药物。
共有 224 名年龄在 17-63 岁的参与者完成了评估人口统计学、述情障碍、情绪性进食、咖啡因消费、酒精消费、负面情绪和奖赏敏感性的仪器。
正如所预测的那样，述情障碍与情绪性进食以及咖啡因和酒精的摄入呈正相关，并且在回归模型中，述情障碍是咖啡因摄入量的一个重要预测因素。然而，情绪性进食并没有表现出中介作用。
述情障碍的特征是情绪调节能力不足和负面情绪，因此，使用药物和/或食物来调节情绪，再加上较差的内感受意识，可能解释了为什么在具有这种特质的人中，过度消费药物或食物会成为替代情绪调节策略。
