Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Psychiatry Res. 2024 Oct;340:116099. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116099. Epub 2024 Jul 28.
Alexithymia is a multi-faceted personality trait, which is the inability to recognize and describe emotions. It is associated with a multitude of mental health problems, and its implication for the diagnosis and treatment of depression remains unclear. The current study explored the nuances of the relationship between alexithymia and depression in a sample of 210 patients with depression. We assessed alexithymia with the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I). The mean TAS-20 score was 57.47 ± 10.63, and the mean BDI-I score was 49.33±9.24. We explored the network structure of alexithymia and depression. Items related to difficulties in identifying, describing, and expressing feelings were prominent in the alexithymia network. Joy, guilt, and self-dislike stand out in the depression network. In our analysis, we were able to show the crescent relationship between depression and alexithymia, with an inflection point at a TAS-20 score of 53. Although the correlation-concordance index was moderate (0.41; 95 %CI: 0.29-0.51), both scales greatly overlap. In the joint network of alexithymia and depression, we could identify bridge (i.e., connecting) items between alexithymia and depression. These were difficulties understanding and relating feelings to physical and body sensations on the alexithymia side, and self-dislike, crying, and somatic concern on the depression side. Taken together, they point to the pivotal role of alexithymia in the somatization/embodiment of emotions and feelings in depression.
述情障碍是一种多方面的人格特质，即无法识别和描述情绪。它与许多心理健康问题有关，但其对抑郁症的诊断和治疗的影响仍不清楚。本研究在 210 名抑郁症患者的样本中探讨了述情障碍和抑郁症之间关系的细微差别。我们使用 20 项多伦多述情障碍量表（TAS-20）评估述情障碍，使用贝克抑郁量表（BDI-I）评估抑郁。TAS-20 的平均得分为 57.47±10.63，BDI-I 的平均得分为 49.33±9.24。我们探讨了述情障碍和抑郁的网络结构。与识别、描述和表达情感困难相关的项目在述情障碍网络中较为突出。在抑郁网络中，突出的是喜悦、内疚和自我厌恶。在我们的分析中，我们能够展示抑郁和述情障碍之间的 crescent 关系，在 TAS-20 得分为 53 时有一个拐点。虽然相关一致性指数为中度（0.41；95%CI：0.29-0.51），但两个量表有很大的重叠。在述情障碍和抑郁的联合网络中，我们可以识别述情障碍和抑郁之间的桥梁（即连接）项目。这些项目包括在述情障碍方面难以理解和将情感与身体和身体感觉联系起来，以及在抑郁方面的自我厌恶、哭泣和躯体关注。总的来说，它们指出了述情障碍在抑郁中情感和感觉的躯体化/体现中的关键作用。
