Scott,
Joshua (9/09) Exploring sex differences in alexithymia: Does sex moderate the
relationship between alexithymia and impulsivity? (Lisa Samstag, Ph.D.; Gary
Kose, Ph.D.; Sara Haden, Ph.D.)
The current study explored the
relationship between alexithymia and impulsivity, taking into account possible
sex differences in alexithymia and controlling for the effects of depression
and dissociation. Rather than focusing upon a particular impulsive behavior,
e.g., emotional overeating, the current study examined trait impulsivity.
Participants included 150 students at a large metropolitan university (61 males
and 89 females, aged 18 to 34 years, M = 21.19, SD = 3.63) who completed
several self-report questionnaires, including the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20
(TAS-20), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), Beck Depression
Inventory (BDI-II), and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Participants also
completed a computerized version of the Matching Familiar Figures Task (MFFT).
Total alexithymia was positively related to impulsiveness as measured by the
BIS-11. However, only externally oriented thinking was related to impulsivity
as assessed by the MFFT. Dissociation was positively associated with total
alexithymia, as well as with difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty
describing feelings, but not with externally oriented thinking. Dissociation
was also positively associated with impulsivity as measured by the BIS-11, but
not the MFFT. Depression was positively related with total alexithymia,
including difficulties identifying and describing feelings, but not with
externally oriented thinking. In the current study's sample, women endorsed
greater depressive symptom severity than men. No significant differences
between men and women were found for total alexithymia, difficulty identifying
feelings, or difficulty describing feelings. However, men reported more
externally oriented thinking than women. Controlling for the effect of
depression, men also endorsed greater total alexithymia and difficulty
identifying feelings than women. Sex was not found to moderate the relationship
between impulsivity, as measured by the BIS-1 1, and total alexithymia or
difficulty identifying feelings. However, more difficulty describing feelings
was specifically associated with more impulsivity in men than in women,
suggesting that certain alexithymic characteristics are more strongly involved
in impulsivity in men than they are in women.
