The role of alexithymia in the mental health problems of home-quarantined university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

Personality and Individual Differences
Wanjie TangJiuping Xu

Abstract

While it is well known that mental health problems are common consequences of deadly pandemics, the association with alexithymia is less clear. This study examined this association in an evaluation of home-quarantined university students during the 2019/2020 COVID-19 pandemic in China. In total, 2501 home-quarantined students from six southwest Chinese universities completed the following questionnaires: the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), and the Patients Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), after which structural equation modeling (SEM) and mediation analyses were employed to extract and evaluate the possible associations. It was found that participants with probable depression or PTSD also reported more severe alexithymia features, such as difficulties in identifying feelings (DIF) or describing feelings (DDF). Alexithymia was also found to partially mediate the effect of number of exposures on mental health problems. These results suggested that implementing strategies to assist young people identify and deal with their own emotions and those of others could prevent or mitigate the mental health problems associated with deadly pandemic events. Howe...Continue Reading

Citations

Dec 23, 2020·Perspectives in Psychiatric Care·Emel Bahadir-Yilmaz, Arzu Yüksel
Jan 28, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Leonardo B FurstenauNicola Luigi Bragazzi
Mar 16, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Sofia Adelaide OsimoCinzia Cecchetto
Apr 27, 2021·Frontiers in Psychiatry·Dandan LiShiyi Cao
Aug 8, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Jesús Muyor-RodríguezJuan Sebastián Fernández-Prados

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