Somatization and alexithymia in young adult Finnish population
Preliminary results of this study have been presented in an abstract at the 2nd Conference on Epidemiological Longitudinal Studies in Europe in Oulu, Finland, 12th–14th June 2002.
Received 5 January 2005; accepted 18 April 2005.
Abstract
Background
We assessed alexithymia and alexithymic features among young adult subjects with and without somatization symptoms in an epidemiological setting with a sample of young adults.
Methods
The sample consisted of urban 31-year-old subjects (N=1002). Data on somatization were gathered from a review of all public health outpatient records. Subjects with four or more somatization symptoms according to the DSM-III-R criteria were considered somatizers. The 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to measure alexithymia. Subjects with a total TAS score over 60 were considered as being alexithymic, and those with a score under 52 were considered nonalexithymic. Subjects with a total TAS score from 52 to 60 were considered as having alexithymic features.
Results
The prevalence of alexithymia was 6.0% among somatizers and 4.8% among subjects without somatization symptoms, and the prevalence of alexithymic features was 7.5% and 12.6%, respectively.
Conclusions
No association was found between alexithymia and somatization in young adult general population. The earlier theory of the association between alexithymia and somatization may be questionable.
ABSTRACT