Relación entre alexitimia y hostilidad: ¿una asociación influida por el malestar psicológico?

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationships between alexithymia and its dimensions (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing them, and external oriented thinking) with psychological distress (vulnerability and depressive state) and hostility (anger-in, anger-out, cynicism and rumination). It also studied whether the association of alexithymia with hostility was influenced by psychological distress. Four hundred and thirty-six participants completed measures of alexithymia, psychological distress and hostility. Alexithymia positively correlated with psychological distress, and it predicted all the selected outcomes. Difficulty to identify and to describe feelings predicted anger-out, anger-in and cynicism. Rumination was only explained by difficulty in describing feelings. Psychological distress influenced the contribution of alexithymia to anger-out and rumination. This effect was less for anger-in and cynicism. The deficit in anger management and the proneness to stress in alexithymic individuals were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)