Background: The relationship between alexithymia and dissociation is not known. Both mechanisms ward off overwhelming affective states; hence, this report examines the relationship between dissociation, alexithymia, depressed mood and the five-factor model of personality in a sample of psychiatric outpatients. Methods: One hundred and sixteen outpatients were evaluated using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), NEO Five-Factor Inventory and visual analog scales assessing depression and anxiety. Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance, logistic regression and linear regression techniques. Results: Depressed mood accounted for the group differences between the global TAS and DES scores. Using DES both dimensionally and categorically with regression models, there was minimal contribution of DES or its subfactors to predict TAS. Conclusions: These data reaffirm previous findings that dissociation fundamentally differs from alexithymia. Dissociation involves a change of one’s sense, of self, whereas alexithymia reflects a cognitive state of externally oriented thinking with an inability to identify and report discrete emotions.

25 adult HIV patients were evaluated in a study of appointments, medication, and compliance with restrictions on sexual activity. The Executive Interview (EXIT) was useful in assessing these patients for cognitive difficulties; compliance with medication and countertransference issues were negatively correlated with EXIT scores.

s: The Association for Convulsive Therapy Meeting: Eighth Annual Meeting With Special Participation from The American Psychiatric Electrophysiological Association: PDF Only

s: The Association for Convulsive Therapy Meeting: Eighth Annual Meeting With Special Participation from The American Psychiatric Electrophysiological Association: PDF Only

To investigate the nature and treatment of pain complaints in psychiatric patients, 75 patients in a general hospital psychiatric unit who utilized any form of analgesic medication were studied. Patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of substance abuse were excluded. The results indicate that most of the pain complaints were musculoskeletal or headaches and mild to moderate in degree. Nonopiod analgesics were commonly prescribed, and the degree of disability from the pain complaint was minimal. Patients who did utilize pain medications stayed in the hospital significantly longer than those who did not, and this was not an effect of age or diagnosis.

The attribution of common somatic symptoms was investigated in 100 psychiatric outpatients. Subjects who were more depressed and alexithymic as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) tended to endorse a psychological attribution for somatic complaints. Somatosensory amplification, anxiety, and inability to express and report specific feelings predicted psychological attribution. The data support the role of alexithymia in somatization and further explain a possible role of psychological attribution of somatic symptoms in the underrecognition of physical disorders in psychiatric patients.

A total of 80 adults (40 normal volunteers, 40 substance abusers) participated in a study about alexithymia and five factors of personality, measured on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the NEO Five Factor Inventory, respectively, and their relationship to recognition of affect. The substance abusers scored the same as the age- and sex-matched normal volunteers on recognizing posed facial expressions, but higher on the alexithymia scale, while on Neuroticism and Extraversion they had lower scores on Agreeableness.

The stability of alexithymia as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and its relationship to depression were investigated in 50 depressed inpatients. The test-retest coefficient for TAS over a 5-day period was 0.57 (p < 0.001). A reliable change index for depressed mood indicated that mood covaried with the TAS, but changes in TAS were not clinically significant. The data support alexithymia as a stable personality construct,

SYNOPSISResearch regarding psychological factors in head pain have generally focused upon personality traits and psychopathology. The role of illness beliefs offers another method of elucidating perceptions, attitudes and convictions towards a somatic complaint. One hundred patients, evaluated for head pain at a neurology clinic, were administered the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) to delineate illness beliefs; the Illness Effects Questionnaire (IEQ) to quantify the disruptive aspects of head pain; and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) to assess the subjects propensity to somatize as well as the ability to identify and report emotions. The data found no difference between subjects diagnosed with migraine syndrome and those with tension head pain in the IBQ dimensions, the TAS or in reported levels of anxiety or depression. However, chronicity of symptoms was associated with increased irritability. The clinical implications of the findings suggest that patients with head pain are psychologically distressed but often possess alexithymic characteristics that make insightful associations difficult.

A total of 62 staff members from a general hospital participated in a study about alexithymia and the five-factor model of personality, measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the NEO Five Factor Inventory, respectively, and their relationship to recognition affect. Subjects with alexithymic characteristics were less able to recognize affective states in posed facial expressions and so may have modified their empathic capacity.

Both amplification of normal visceral phenomena and the personality trait of alexithymia are factors in the process of somatization, whereby somatic symptoms become metaphors for emotional distress. The relationship between these two variables was investigated in 101 psychiatric out-patients. Each subject was administered the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSA); the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS); the NEO-FFI, which measures five personality factors; and the health locus of control (HLC). In addition, anxiety and depression were quantitatively measured. SSA and TAS significantly correlated only in the female subjects. A regression model found neuroticism to contribute the most variance in predicting SSA while TAS did not fit into the model. Amplification is a perceptual element in potentiating somatization, whereas alexithymia contributes to the cognitive aspects of the process. The role of neuroticism is discussed as a mediating factor.

The seclusion room is an integral component of hospital psychiatry. This study prospectively surveyed 50 patients shortly after each was released from an isolation room in a voluntary general hospital psychiatric unit. Fifty-eight percent of the sample were diagnosed with mood disorders. Previous studies found generally negative attitudes toward seclusion. These data revealed that patients often found seclusion to be restful and therapeutically helpful. The clinical implications of these data are discussed.

OBJECTIVE:Both locus of control and alexithymia have been considered personality factors fostering health concerns and behaviors. This study investigates the relationship between the health locus of control and alexithymia.METHOD:Seventy-eight psychiatric outpatients were administered the Wallston Health Locus of Control Scale (HLC), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (HLC), and the Five Factor Inventory, which measures neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Depressive and anxious affect was also measured. Regression models were developed to assess the influence of the above variables upon alexithymia.RESULTS:Although there was a significant bivariant correlation between an external locus of control and increased alexithymia, regression models found that HLC did not significantly predict TAS. Neuroticism, however, provided the most significant contribution to predict increased alexithymia.CONCLUSION:Neuroticism may link HLC and TAS due to the face validity of each construct. A sense of vulnerability is stated in each measure. This may foster somatic preoccupation. The data suggest HLC and TAS to be separate phenomena and further support the validity of alexithymia as a unique personality trait.

The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) offers a reliable method to measure alexithymia, a personality construct describing individuals endorsing the inability to identify and report emotions, processing a minimal fantasy life, utilizing an analytic cognitive style, and tending to somatize. Utilizing four cohorts of both patients and controls, a three-factor solution emerged from a principal-components analysis utilizing a varimax rotation. The factors of inability to identify and report feelings, an analytic cognitive style, and paucity of fantasy life were independent and internally reliable. These data are reviewed in the context of previous research and offer three subscales for future investigations utilizing the Toronto Alexithymia Scale.

The relationship between alexithymia assessed by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and the five-factor model of personality measured by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (FFI) was investigated in a group of psychiatric outpatients (n = 114) and normal volunteers (n = 71). When controlling for depression, the domains of neuroticism, introversion, and low openness predicted alexithymia. These three dimensions accounted for 57.1% of the explained variance in the patient cohort and 38.1% in the volunteer group. In the patient cohort, neuroticism contributed the majority of explained variance, which may reflect the state effect of distress that elevates neuroticism. Introversion was the most significant predictor in the volunteer group. These data suggest alexithymia is a unique personality trait that is not fully explained by the five-factor model of personality.

Residents anddirectors of accredited child and adolescent psychiatry programs (N = 117) in the United States were surveyed (with a response rate of 89% and 76.9%, respectively) to determine the extent and adequacy of training offered for the identification and management of substance abuse disorders. Of the responders, 24% of the residents indicated some exposure (≥1 hour) to an adolescent drug abuse treatment facility during their training. In contrast, 46% of the directors reported that their residents had such exposure. Residents consistently reported training to be less adequate than did directors. Only half of the residents reported that they felt adequately prepared to identify and initially manage a substance-abusing adolescent, whereas a somewhat higher percentage of the directors (59%) felt that their residents were adequately prepared for this function.

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ArticleNo AccessWhy Psychiatric Residents Join Professional OrganizationsThomas Kobylski, Thomas N. Wise, and Lee S. MannThomas Kobylski, Thomas N. Wise, and Lee S. MannPublished Online:1 Apr 2006https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.42.1.88AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail PDFThis content is only available as a PDF. Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 42Issue 1 January 1991Pages 88-90 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 April 2006 Published in print 1 January 1991

Utilizing a systematic methodology (The Consultation-Liaison Outcome Evaluation System), the compliance of nonpsychiatric consultations within a general hospital psychiatric unit staffed by private practitioners was assessed. Thirty-one percent of the patients received such consultations and these patients had a longer length of stay than those without a consultation. Psychiatrists were generally compliant with both medication and diagnostic recommendations; but in only half the discharge summaries was the consultant's primary medical diagnosis fully reflected. The implications of these data are discussed.