ALEXITHYMIA AND PARENTAL BONDING AMONG FIRST-VISIT ADOLESCENT PATIENTS IN SPECIALIZED MENTAL OR MEDICAL HEALTHCARE

ABSTRACT Background: Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing emotions. In adults, it has been associated with several psychiatric conditions and medical illnesses. Although similar associations appear to exist in adolescents, alexithymia has been studied only rarely in adolescent patient populations. Furthermore, experienced parental bonding has not previously been studied in relation to alexithymia in clinical adolescent samples. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the prevalence of alexithymia and its association with parental bonding among adolescents entering specialized mental or medical healthcare. Methods: The study samples comprised first-visit patients attending an adolescent psychiatry clinic (n=176, aged 13-22 years) or a paediatric clinic (n=117, aged 12-15 years). Alexithymia was assessed using the Toronto Alexithymia scale (TAS-20) and perceived parental bonding with the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The psychometric properties of the TAS-20 were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis and the main analyses were carried out using general linear models. Results: High levels of alexithymic features were prevalent in both samples, with rates of 48.3% in the adolescent psychiatry sample and 19.7% in the paediatric sample. Median TAS-20 scores were significantly higher in the former (60.0 vs. 51.0, p<0.001). Low parental care was significantly related to alexithymic features in both samples. High maternal overprotection had a significant association with alexithymic features only in the adolescent psychiatry sample. Conclusions: Alexithymic features are common among adolescents entering specialized healthcare, particularly among those referred to adolescent psychiatry. Perceived parental bonding is significantly related to alexithymia also among patients referred to paediatric care. Further research is needed to clarify the role of alexithymia in somatic complaints and medical illnesses during adolescence.