Lin Yu-Chen, Lee Wei-Yang
Department of Psychiatry, Veteran General Hospital-Taichung, Taichung, 407, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Department of Psychiatry, Cheng Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, 333, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2023 Jul 28;19:1665-1674. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S421458. eCollection 2023.
Caregivers' responses have an impact on children's emotional and behavioral development. The inability of caregivers to perceive their own emotions affects their responses to children. This study aims to examine the relationship between a mother's difficulties in emotional expression and children's emotional and behavioral disorders.
A total of 78 cases, aged between 3 and 15 years old, were included in this study. The mothers completed the Taiwan version of the "Toronto Alexithymia Scale" (TAS) and "Children's Behavior Checklist" (CBCL) questionnaires, which served as research tools. TAS consists of three factors: difficulty in distinguishing emotions (Factor 1, F1), difficulty in expressing feelings (Factor 2, F2), and an externally oriented thinking style (Factor 3, F3). CBCL represents a child's behavior profile. The Mann-Whitney test and correlation analyses were used for follow-up analysis.
Our analysis revealed that F1, F2, F3, and total scores of TAS (TAS-Total) correlate positively with the somatic complaint subscale of CBCL (F1: p = 0.003; F2: p = 0.002; F3: p = 0.034, TAS-Total p=0.002). Additionally, TAS-F1 was positively correlated with the internalizing problems subscale of CBCL (p = 0.020) and the withdrawn (WD) subscale of CBCL (p = 0.044). We also found a significant association between TAS-F1 and WD of CBCL in boys alone (p = 0.022). However, we observed a negative association between TAS-F3 and the social problems subscale of CBCL in boys alone (p = 0.038).
Mothers with alexithymic features are more likely to have children who internalize emotions, leading to withdrawal and somatic expression. Boys tend to exhibit withdrawal traits associated with internalization. This study provides initial evidence of a partial correlation between maternal alexithymia and children's emotional and behavioral disorders, emphasizing the importance of investigating caregivers' emotional traits for a better understanding of children's development in the future.
照顾者的反应会对儿童的情绪和行为发展产生影响。照顾者无法感知自身情绪会影响他们对孩子的反应。本研究旨在探讨母亲在情绪表达方面的困难与儿童情绪和行为障碍之间的关系。
本研究共纳入78例年龄在3至15岁之间的儿童。母亲们完成了台湾版的“多伦多述情障碍量表”（TAS）和“儿童行为量表”（CBCL）问卷，作为研究工具。TAS由三个因素组成：区分情绪困难（因素1，F1）、表达情感困难（因素2，F2）和外向型思维方式（因素3，F3）。CBCL代表儿童的行为概况。采用曼-惠特尼检验和相关性分析进行后续分析。
我们的分析显示，TAS的F1、F2、F3和总分（TAS-总分）与CBCL的躯体主诉分量表呈正相关（F1：p = 0.003；F2：p = 0.002；F3：p = 0.034，TAS-总分p = 0.002）。此外，TAS-F1与CBCL的内化问题分量表（p = 0.020）和CBCL的退缩（WD）分量表（p = 0.044）呈正相关。我们还发现，仅在男孩中，TAS-F1与CBCL的WD之间存在显著关联（p = 0.022）。然而，我们观察到仅在男孩中，TAS-F3与CBCL的社会问题分量表呈负相关（p = 0.038）。
具有述情障碍特征的母亲更有可能养育出内化情绪的孩子，导致退缩和躯体表达。男孩往往表现出与内化相关的退缩特质。本研究提供了初步证据，证明母亲述情障碍与儿童情绪和行为障碍之间存在部分相关性，强调了未来研究照顾者的情绪特质对于更好地理解儿童发展的重要性。
