Original Paper
The Relationship among Alexithymia, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, and General Mental Health in University Students
2021 Volume 61 Issue 3 Pages 266-274
Details
2021 Volume 61 Issue 3 Pages 266-274
Objectives : Previous studies have revealed the relationships between alexithymia, cognitive emotion regulation, and mental health. However, precise association of these three variables regarding directionality and causality remains uncertain. The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential mediating role of alexithymic traits on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mental health states by psychological measures in a general sample.
Methods : A three part questionnaire is devised in this study to evaluate 150 university students : A 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to assess alexithymia tendency ; a General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) for assessing mental health states. Finally, in order to assess cognitive emotion regulation strategies, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ).
Results : There is a significant correlation between each factor of the TAS-20 and the CERQ. An analysis of covariance structure is performed to examine the relationship among the CERQ, the TAS-20 and the GHQ28. The results indicated the “difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF)” factor of the TAS-20 is significant when related to a more frequent use of specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies, such as : rumination, self-blame, and catastrophizing. These three negative strategies have been reported as typical maladaptive cognitive strategies relating to various psychopathologies. Furthermore, the “difficulty in describing feeling (DDF)” factor of the TAS-20 is significant when related to self-blame and catastrophizing. The alexithymic traits mediated the association between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mental health problems.
Conclusions : These results suggest that specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies play important roles in alexithymia relating to their poor mental health. Therefore, it can be beneficial to introduce specific cognitive interventions to persons with alexithymia.
