Key Problems in the Studies of Alexithymia and Its Relationship with Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, Flexibility of Coping with stress and Emotional Disorders

The article discusses the ideas concerning the multidimensionality of the alexithymia construct and the problems of alexithymia studies. The relationship of various alexithymic traits with cognitive emotion regulation (ER), coping flexibility (CF) and psycho-emotional symptomatology was studied. The participants (N=109, 19—34 years old, 82.6% women) filled out the following questionnaires: the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Flexibility of Coping with Stress Questionnaire, and the Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire for assessing distress, depression, anxiety, and somatization. Young people with type III alexithymia and those with no alexithymia are characterized by favorable cognitive ER and CF. The opposite tendency is characteristic for individuals with alexithymia type I and II. High emotional arousability and low cognitive emotional processing ability determine low adaptiveness and vulnerability to emotional disorders. Low cognitive awareness of emotions contributes to the diminishing use of adaptive cognitive ER strategies and leads to a decrease in CF. Low emotional arousability contributes to a high CF and, along with concrete thinking, reduces the use of maladaptive ER strategies.

1. Ageenkova E.K., Larionov P.M. Zhiznennyi stsenarii i spetsifika emotsional’noi sfery bol’nykh depressiei skvoz’ prizmu proektivnoi psikhodiagnostiki [Life script and specificity of patients emotional sphere with depression through a prism of projective psychodiagnostics] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Meditsinskaya psikhologiya v Rossii = Medical Psychology in Russia, 2020. Vol. 12, no. 1 (60). Available at: http:// medpsy.ru/mprj/archiv_global/2020_1_60/nomer08.php (Accessed 06.07.2020).
2. Akimenko A.K. Vzaimosvyaz’ aleksitimii, koping-strategii i stilya samoregulyatsii lichnosti [Relationship between alexithymia, coping strategies and a self-regulation style]. Izvestiya Saratovskogo universiteta. Novaya seriya. Seriya: Psikhologiya. Filosofiya. Pedagogika = Saratov University Bulletin. New Series. Series: Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2016. Vol. 16 (3), pp. 311—316. DOI:10.18500/1819-7671- 2016-16-3-311-316
3. Bakumov P.A., Volchanskiy M.E., Zernyukova Е.А., et al. Kharakteristika urovnya aleksitimii u meditsinskikh rabotnikov [Characteristics of alexithymia in health professionals]. Vestnik VolgGMU = Journal of Volgograd State Medical University, 2016, no. 1 (57), pp. 103—104.
4. Belousova G.P. Aktivnost’ vegetativnoi nervnoi sistemy v usloviyakh Severa u studentok-aleksitimikov [Activity of the autonomic nervous system under Nordic conditions in the alexithymic students]. Ekologiya cheloveka = Human Ecology, 2020, no. 8, pp. 21—27.
5. Bogomaz S.A., Filonenko A.L. Vzaimosvyaz’ aleksitimii kak faktora, prepyatstvuyushchego razvitiyu lichnosti, s parametrami smyslovoi sfery i proyavleniyami rigidnosti [Alexithymia as a factor that interferes normal current of development of a person]. Sibirskii psikhologicheskii zhurnal = Siberian Journal of Psychology, 2005, no. 22, pp. 124—128.
6. Brel’ E.Yu. Aleksitimiya v norme i patologii: psikhologicheskaya struktura i vozmozhnosti preventsii. Avtoref. diss. dokt. psihol. nauk [Alexithymia in norm and pathology: psychological structure and possibilities of prevention. Dr. Sci. (Psychology) Thesis]. Tomsk, 2018. 40 p.
7. Golovina A.G. Aleksitimicheskie narusheniya pri fobicheskikh rasstroistvakh u podrostkov [Alexithymic disorders in adolescents with phobic disorders]. Sibirskii vestnik psikhiatrii i narkologii = Siberian Herald of Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry, 2011, no. 3 (66), pp. 38—40.
8. Zamogil’nyi S.I., Igumnov S.A., Nikolkina Yu.A., et al. Aleksitimiya kak predraspolagayushchii faktor v razvitii addiktsii: analiticheskii obzor [Alexithymia as a predisposing factor in development of addictions: Analytic review]. Psikhiatriya, psikhoterapiya i klinicheskaya psikhologiya = Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology, 2016. Vol. 7 (4), pp. 557—562.
9. Iskusnykh A.Yu., Popova L.I. Aleksitimiya u studentov. Rasprostranennost’, prichiny i posledstviya [Alexithymia among students. Prevalence, causes and consequences]. Lichnost’, sem’ya i obshchestvo: voprosy pedagogiki i psikhologii = Personality, Family and Society: Issues of Pedagogy and Psychology, 2016, no. 9 (66), pp. 61—65.
10. Kelina M.Y., Meshkova T.A. Aleksitimiya i ee svyaz’ s pishchevymi ustanovkami v neklinicheskoi populyatsii devushek podrostkovogo i yunosheskogo vozrasta [Аlexithymia and eating attitudes among adolescent and young girls of non-clinical population] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Klinicheskaia i spetsial’naia psikhologiia = Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 2012. Vol. 1 (2). Available at: http://psyjournals. ru/psyclin/2012/n2/52628.shtml (Accessed 06.07.2020). (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
11. Klibson S.K., Gulordava M.D., Korotkova I.S. Uroven’ aleksitimii u dermatologicheskikh bol’nykh [Alexithymia level in different dermatologic patients]. Vestnik YuUrGU. Seriya “Psikhologiya” = Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Series “Psychology”, 2018. Vol. 11 (1), pp. 106—111. DOI:10.14529/psy180110.
12. Kovachev O.V. Psikhodinamicheskii kollaps aleksitimii [Psychodynamic collapse of alexithymia]. Prikladnaya yuridicheskaya psikhologiya = Applied Legal Psychology, 2010, no. 1, pp. 119—124.
13. Larionov P.M. Aleksitimiya i agressiya kak prediktory psikhoemotsional’nykh narushenii [Alexithymia and aggression as risk factors for psycho-emotional disorders]. Vestnik psikhoterapii = The Bulletin of Psychotherapy, 2020, no. 74 (79), pp. 76—96.
14. Larionov Р.М. Psikhosomaticheskie otnosheniya pri arterial’noi gipertenzii [Psychosomatic relationships in patients with hypertension]. Rossiiskii kardiologicheskii zhurnal = Russian Journal of Cardiology, 2020. Vol. 25 (3), pp. 121—128. DOI:10.15829/1560-4071-2020-3-3683
15. Larionov P.M., Grechukha I.A. Rol’ aleksitimii i kognitivnoi regulyatsii emotsii v razvitii agressivnogo povedeniya podrostkov [The role of alexithymia and cognitive emotion regulation in the development of aggressive behavior in adolescents]. Klinicheskaya i spetsial’naya psikhologiya = Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 2020. Vol. 9 (4), pp. 57—98. DOI:10.17759/cpse.2020090404. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
16. Levshunova E.N. Vzaimosvyaz’ agressivnosti i aleksitimicheski podobnykh proyavlenii lichnosti [The interrelation of aggression and the alexithymic-like manifestations of the person]. Filosofiya obrazovaniya = Philosophy of Education, 2010, no. 2 (31), pp. 233—240.
17. Lozovoy V.V., Lozovaya T.V. Aleksitimiya roditelei kak faktor riska rannego upotrebleniya alkogolya podrostkami [Parental alexithymia as a risk factor for teens alcohol use]. Ural’skii meditsinskii zhurnal = Ural Medical Journal, 2013. Vol. 7, pp. 37—40.
18. Mamed”yarov A., Namazova L., Kuzenkova L., et al. Otsenka roli psikhoemotsional’nykh faktorov v vozniknovenii i techenii bronkhial’noi astmy u detei i podrostkov [Role of psycho-emotive factors in bronchial asthma development and course in children and teenagers]. Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii = Current Pediatrics, 2007. Vol. 6 (3), pp. 117—118.
19. Moskacheva M.A., Kholmogorova A.B., Garanyan N.G. Aleksitimiya i sposobnost’ k empatii [Alexithymia and empathy]. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2014. Vol. 22 (4), pp. 98—114. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
20. Nartova-Bochaver S.K., Potapova A.V. Uroven’ aleksitimii kak indikator psikhologicheskoi ustoichivosti studentov tekhnicheskikh i gumanitarnykh vuzov [Level of alexithymia as an indicator of psychological stability of students of technical and humanitarian higher educational institutions]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2012. Vol. 17 (3), pp. 10—17. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
21. Nikulina D.S., Sineeva S.N. Udovletvorennost’ kachestvom zhizni studentov s raznym urovnem aleksitimii [The contentment of life quality of students with different level of alexithymia]. Izvestiya YuFU. Tekhnicheskie nauki = Sothern Federal University Herald. Engineering Sciences], 2008, no. 83 (6), pp. 76—80.
22. Potemkina E.A. Osobennosti aleksitimii u patsientov s khronicheskimi ginekologicheskimi zabolevaniyami [Features of the alexithymia in patients with chronic gynecologic diseases]. Sibirskii psikhologicheskii zhurnal = Siberian Journal of Psychology, 2010, no. 35, pp. 36—38.
23. Starostina Е.G., Taylor G.D., Quilty L.K., et al. Torontskaya shkala aleksitimii (20 punktov): validizatsiya russkoyazychnoi versii na vyborke terapevticheskikh bol’nykh [A new 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale: validation of the Russian language translation in a sample of medical patients]. Sotsial’naya i klinicheskaya psikhiatriya = Social and Clinical Psychiatry, 2010, no. 4, pp. 31—38.
24. Trunov D.G. Vidy i mekhanizmy funktsional’noi aleksitimii [The types and mechanisms of functional alexithymia]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Psikhologiya. Sotsiologiya = Perm University Herald. Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology, 2010. Vol. 1 (2), pp. 93—99.
25. Kholmogorova A.B., Garanyan N.G. Emotsional’nye rasstroistva i sovremennaya kul’tura [Emotional disorders and modern culture]. Moskovskii psikhoterapevticheskii zhurnal = Moscow Psychotherapeutic Journal, 1999, no. 7 (2), pp. 61—90.
26. Kholmogorova A.B., Moscovskaya M.S., Sheryagina E.V. Aleksitimiya i sposobnost’ k okazaniyu raznykh vidov sotsial’noi podderzhki [Alexithymia and the ability to provide different types of social support]. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2014. Vol. 22 (4), pp. 115—129. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
27. Shkurotenko O.S. Priznaki aleksitimii beremennosti i psikhofiziologicheskie pokazateli novorozhdennogo [Signs of alexithymia in pregnancy and psychosomatic parameters of the newborn]. Vestnik SPbGU. Sotsiologiya [Saint-Petersburg University Bulletin. Sociology], 2010, no. 2, pp. 388—393.
28. Basińska M.A., Sołtys M. Personal resources and flexibility in coping with stress depending on perceived stress in a group of cancer patients. Health Psychology Report, 2020. Vol. 8 (2), pp. 107—119. DOI:10.5114/hpr.2020.93781
29. Bermond B., Clayton K., Liberova A., et al. A cognitive and an affective dimension of alexithymia in six languages and seven populations. Cognition and Emotion, 2007. Vol. 21 (5), pp. 1125—1136. DOI:10.1080/02699930601056989
30. Czachowski S., Izdebski A., Terluin B., et al. Walidacja kwestionariusza 4DSQ mierzącego dystres, depresję, lęk i somatyzację w Polsce. Problemy Medycyny Rodzinnej, 2013. Vol. 4 (40), pp. 14—20.
31. Fava G.A., Cosci F., Sonino N. Current Psychosomatic Practice. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 2017. Vol. 86 (1), pp. 13—30. DOI:10.1159/000448856
32. Karukivi M., Saarijärvi S. Development of alexithymic personality features. World Journal of Psychiatry, 2014. Vol. 4 (4), pp. 91—102. DOI:10.5498/wjp.v4.i4.91
33. Marszał-Wiśniewska M., Fajkowska M. Właściwości psychometryczne Kwestionariusza Poznawczej Regulacji Emocji (Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire — CERQ) — wyniki badań na polskiej próbie. Studia Psychologiczne, 2010. Vol. 49 (1), pp. 19—39.
34. Maruszewski T., Ścigała E. Kwestionariusze do badania aleksytymii — teoria i praktyka. Przegląd Psychologiczny, 1997. Vol. 40 (3/4), pp. 385—417.
35. Płońska D., Czernikiewicz A. Aleksytymia — ciągle wiele pytań. Część I. Definiowanie aleksytymii. Psychiatria, 2006. Vol. 3 (1), pp. 1—7.
36. Preece D.A., Becerra R., Robinson K., et al. What is alexithymia? Using factor analysis to establish its latent structure and relationship with fantasizing and emotional reactivity. Journal of Personality, 2020. Vol. 88 (6), pp. 1162—1176. DOI:10.1111/jopy.12563
37. Vorst H.C.M., Bermond B. Validity and reliability of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 2001. Vol. 30 (3), pp. 413—434.