role of alexithymic personality features in predicting psychopathological symptoms in patients with major depression

aim and background: fundamental dysfunctions  in  affective  regulation have particular  importance  in development of psychological symptoms in mood disorders. the study investigated the role of alexithymic personality features to predict psychopathological symptoms in patients with major depression. method and materials: this was a longitudinal descriptive study. the sample consisted of 323 patients with major depression (225 women, 98 men; 32-45 years old, mean age = 38, sd = 3). they had referred to psychiatric clinics of ardebil province and were enrolled in the study through convenient sampling after completing and  signing  informed consent  forms. the  instruments used  for data collection were toronto alexithymia  scale-20  and  symptom  checklist-90-r.  data  were  analyzed  using  multiple  regression analyses. findings: results demonstrated that only the first alexithymia facet (difficulties with identifying feelings) was  a  significant  predictor  for  all  psychopathological  symptoms  in  patients  with  major  depression   (p = 0.001). the contributions of other facets of alexithymia appeared to be almost negligible.    conclusions: in general many psychopathological symptoms in major depression are associated with the patients’ inability to identify emotions.