Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Alexithymia and Breast Cancer Surgery: A Systematic Review

Domenico De Berardis, Stefano Marini, Felice Iasevoli, Monica Mazza, Alessandro Valchera, Michele Fornaro, Giampaolo Perna, Laura Orsolini, Alessandro Carano, Gabriella Girinelli, Federica Vellante, Ilaria Matarazzo, Nicola Serroni, Marilde Cavuto, Giovanni Martinotti, Maurizio Brucchi, Massimo Di Giannantonio

Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research · pp. 1–11 · Published 18 May 2016

10.9734/BJMMR/2016/25934

Abstract

The term alexithymia is a complex multidimensional construct that literally means “no words for mood”. There are two kind of alexithymia: primary and secondary or otherwise called trait and state alexithymia. There is still an unresolved debate about the nature of alexithymia as a trait or a state. The etiology of alexithymia has not been completely determined because of the numerous factors influencing its development. Alexithymia has been observed among patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders and medical conditions. The aim of this systematic review was to review studies investigating the correlations between alexithymia, depression and anxiety in breast cancer surgery women. Literature search was conducted in January, 2016. PubMed and Scopus databases were used to find studies for inclusion in the systematic review. Correlations between alexithymia, depression and anxiety evidenced that alexithymia may be considered a stable personality trait and an important factor to the development of anxiety symptoms. However, limitations of these studies must be considered and further investigations are needed.

Alexithymia breast cancer surgery women state trait anxiety depression

References (76)

  1. 1 The Prevalence of ‘Alexithymic’ Characteristics in Psychosomatic Patients [DOI]
  2. 2 Disorders of Affect Regulation: Alexithymia in Medical and Psychiatric Illness
  3. 3 Recent Developments in Alexithymia Theory and Research [DOI]
  4. 4 An Evaluation of the Absolute and Relative Stability of Alexithymia in Patients with Major Depression [DOI]
  5. 5 Depression and cancer: an appraisal of the literature for prevalence, detection, and practice guideline development for psychological interventions [DOI]
  6. 6 Alexithymia and Depression: A Prospective Study of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder [DOI]
  7. 7 Somatoform disorders as disorders of affect regulation [DOI]
  8. 8 Stability of alexithymia in the general population: an 11-year follow-up [DOI]
  9. 9 Temporal Stability of Alexithymia Over a Five-Year Period in Outpatients with Major Depression [DOI]
  10. 10 Alexithymia: Concept and Measurement [DOI]
  11. 11 Alexithymia in women and men hospitalized for psychoactive substance dependence [DOI]
  12. 12 Alexithymia, depression, and treatment outcome in bulimia nervosa [DOI]
  13. 13 Alexithymia and risk of death in middle-aged men [DOI]
  14. 14 Alexithymia and body image in adult outpatients with binge eating disorder [DOI]
  15. 15 The Development of an MMPI Alexithymia Scale [DOI]
  16. 16 Adjustment to breast cancer: age‐related differences in coping and emotional distress [DOI]
  17. 17 Structure of the Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale [DOI]
  18. 18 Alexithymia and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders [DOI]
  19. 19 Insight and alexithymia in adult outpatients with obsessive–compulsive disorder [DOI]
  20. 20 Psychological Assessment in Cardiac Rehabilitation [DOI]
  21. 21 Pan-enteric dysmotility, impaired quality of life and alexithymia in a large group of patients meetingROMEII criteria for irritable bowel syndrome [DOI]
  22. 22 Alexithymia and its relationships with body checking and body image in a non-clinical female sample [DOI]
  23. 23 Alexithymia Is Associated With Increased Cardiovascular Mortality in Middle-Aged Finnish Men [DOI]
  24. 24 Alexithymia and Suicide Ideation in a Sample of Patients with Binge Eating Disorder [DOI]
  25. 25 Alexithymia and Pathological Gambling [DOI]
  26. 26 Interhemispheric Transfer Deficit in Alexithymia [DOI]
  27. 27 Alexithymia in PTSD [DOI]
  28. 28 Alexithymia, Fear of Bodily Sensations, and Somatosensory Amplification in Young Outpatients With Panic Disorder [DOI]
  29. 29 Alexithymia as a Predictor of Residual Symptoms in Depressed Patients Who Respond to Short-Term Psychotherapy [DOI]
  30. 30 Relationships between the emotional and cognitive components of alexithymia and dependency in alcoholics [DOI]
  31. 31 In search of a framework for the treatment of alexithymia [DOI]
  32. 32 The relationship between perceived parenting, adult attachment style and alexithymia in alcoholic inpatients [DOI]
  33. 33 Alexithymia, coping, and illness behavior correlates of pain experience in cancer patients [DOI]
  34. 34 Alexithymia and Cancer Pain: The Effect of Psychological Intervention [DOI]
  35. 35 Assessment of Alexithymia With the Rorschach Comprehensive System: The Rorschach Alexithymia Scale (RAS) [DOI]
  36. 36 Alexithymia and Tissue Inflammation [DOI]
  37. 37 Alexithymia, responsibility attitudes and suicide ideation among outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: An exploratory study [DOI]
  38. 38 Alexithymia and anxiety in female chronic pain patients [DOI]
  39. 39 Factors related to anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer and their husbands: role of alexithymia and family functioning [DOI]
  40. 40 Temporal stability of alexithymia in cancer patients following a psychological intervention [DOI]
  41. 41 Validation of the Alexithymia Construct: A Measurement-Based Approach [DOI]
  42. 42 Social Situation of Expectant Mothers and Alexithymia 31 Years Later in Their Offspring: A Prospective Study [DOI]
  43. 43 Alexithymia in Egyptian Substance Abusers [DOI]
  44. 44 The Influence of Defense Mechanisms on Secondary Alexithymia in Hemodialysis Patients [DOI]
  45. 45 Quality of Life following Colorectal Cancer Surgery: The Role of Alexithymia [DOI]
  46. 46 Genetic testing for hereditary cancer: Effects of alexithymia and coping strategies on variations in anxiety before and after result disclosure [DOI]
  47. 47 Alexithymia in oncologic disease: association with cancer invasion and hemoglobin levels.
  48. 48 Alexithymia and Early Diagnosis of Uterine Carcinoma: Results of a Case-Control Study [DOI]
  49. 49 Alexithymia and its relationships with acute phase proteins and cytokine release: an updated review.
  50. 50 Appendix 2. Interview for the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research [DOI]
  51. 51 Empathic brain responses in insula are modulated by levels of alexithymia but not autism [DOI]
  52. 52 Colorectal cancer risk, chronic illnesses, operations and medications: case control results from the Melbourne Colorectal Cancer Study [DOI]
  53. 53 The validity of using self-reports to assess emotion regulation abilities in adults with autism spectrum disorder [DOI]
  54. 54 No words for feelings: alexithymia in schizophrenia patients and first-degree relatives [DOI]
  55. 55 The Impact of Alexithymia on Anxiety Disorders: a Review of the Literature [DOI]
  56. 56 An overview of the alexithymia construct.
  57. 57 Alexithymia in panic disorder and simple phobia: a comparative study [DOI]
  58. 58 Alexithymia [DOI]
  59. 59 Theoretical and empirical exploration of the similarities between emotional numbing in posttraumatic stress disorder and alexithymia [DOI]
  60. 60 Is alexithymia a negative factor for maintaining abstinence? A follow-up study [DOI]
  61. 61 Alexithymia in Young Adulthood: A Risk Factor for Pathological Gambling [DOI]
  62. 62 An evaluation of the absolute and relative stability of alexithymia in women with breast cancer [DOI]
  63. 63 Relationships Between Alexithymia, Affect Recognition, and Empathy After Traumatic Brain Injury [DOI]
  64. 64 Alexithymia and its relationships with C-reactive protein and serum lipid levels among drug naïve adult outpatients with major depression [DOI]
  65. 65 Alexithymia and Somatosensory Amplification in Functional Dyspepsia [DOI]
  66. 66 Alexithymia, Suicide Ideation, C-Reactive Protein, and Serum Lipid Levels Among Outpatients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder [DOI]
  67. 67 Alexithymia, suicide risk and serum lipid levels among adult outpatients with panic disorder [DOI]
  68. 68 Overlap Between Alexithymia and Asperger’s Syndrome [DOI]
  69. 69 Alexithymia and body image disturbances in women with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder [DOI]
  70. 70 Emotional expression and coping style in female breast cancer [DOI]
  71. 71 Alexithymia: Should This Personality Disorder Be Considered During Treatment of Patients With Mental Illness? [DOI]
  72. 72 Personality and Colorectal Cancer: The Fukuoka Colorectal Cancer Study [DOI]
  73. 73 GENETIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO ALEXITHYMIA [DOI]
  74. 74 Alexithymia–A Disorder of the Regulatory Mechanism of the Emotion Elaboration–and Quality of Life in Gynecologic Surgery [DOI]
  75. 75 Alexithymia in patients with left-hemispheric cerebral infarction in the late recovery period [DOI]
  76. 76 [Alexithymia and suicide risk among patients with schizophrenia: preliminary findings of a cross-sectional study].

Cited by 3

Maladaptive Personality Features, Alexithymia, and Traumatic Events as Risk Factors for Patients With Cancer Diagnosis

Erika Maniscalco, Luana La Marca, Naida Faldetta · Journal of Mental Health Counseling · 2022

Showing 1 of 3 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

33

Page views

0

PDF downloads

4

Outbound clicks

3

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.