Somatization and alexithymia in young adult Finnish population

• Published in: General hospital psychiatry Vol. 27; no. 4; pp. 244 - 249
• Main Authors: Karvonen, Juha T., Veijola, Juha, Kokkonen, Pirkko, Läksy, Kristian, Miettunen, Jouko, Joukamaa, Matti
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.07.2005; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Affective Symptoms - diagnosis; Affective Symptoms - epidemiology; Alexithymia; Biological and medical sciences; Cohort Studies; Epidemiologic Studies; Epidemiology; Female; Finland - epidemiology; Humans; Male; Medical Audit; Medical sciences; Population study; Prevalence; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Somatization; Somatoform Disorders - diagnosis; Somatoform Disorders - epidemiology; Somatoform disorders. Psychosomatics; TAS-20; Urban Population; Europe; Finland; Somatization; TAS-20; Population study; Epidemiology; Alexithymia; Human; Social environment; Urban environment; Prevalence; Mental health; Personality; Symptomatology; Sociodemographic factor; Cohort study; Somatoform disorder; Young adult; Comparative study; Public health
• ISSN: 0163-8343; 1873-7714
• DOI: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2005.04.005

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. 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. 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. 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.