Investigation of the relationship between alexithymia and eating attitude, self-esteem and anger in women who applied to psychological counseling center

Year 2018, Volume: 4 Issue: 4, 280 - 288, 04.10.2018

Hüseyin Ünübol , Feride Gökben Hızlı Sayar Sinem Kanbolat

https://doi.org/10.18621/eurj.350423

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Objective:
The main purpose of this study was to examine
self-esteem, anger and eating attitude with alexithymia in people who consult
to the psychological counseling center. The sample of the study consist of 100
women who were located in Istanbul and applied to the psychological consulting
center.

Methods: Consent form, demographic form, State-Trait Anger
Expression Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory, Toronto Alexithymia
Scale and Eating Attitude Test have been used to collect the data in this
study. In this research, the relationship between sociodemographic features, alexithymia,
self-esteem, anger, eating attitude of women who consult to the psychological
counseling center had been examined. Data obtained have been analyzed
statistically by using SPSS 15.0 for Windows.

Results: The findings of
this research supported our hypothesizes. Regarding the relationship between
eating attitude and alexithymia, there is a positive relationship between
difficulties in identifying and describing feelings with eating attitudes (p < 0.05). Regarding the relationship
between alexithymia and self-esteem, there is a positive relation between
sub-dimensions of alexithymia scale with subscales of self-esteem (p < 0.05). There is a positive relationship
between identifying feelings with trait anger and anger-out scores (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: According to
these results, it appears that alexithymia has a serious relationship with
anger, eating attitude and self-esteem. We suggest that alexithymia may be at
the center of other features relations with each other. 

Keywords

Alexithymia, eating attitude, anger, self-esteem

References

• [1] Levenson H. Time-Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Guide to Clinical Practice. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
• [2] Taylor GJ, Bagby RM, Parker JD. The alexithymia construct. A potential paradigm for psychosomatic medicine. Psychosomatics 1991;32:153-64.
• [3] Berenbaum H, Irvin S. Alexithymia, anger, and interpersonal behavior. Psychother Psychosom 1996;65:203-8.
• [4] Forgays DG, Forgays DK, Spielberger CD. Factor Structure of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. J Pers Assess 1997;69:497-507.
• [5] Loas G, Fremaux D, Otmani O, Lecercle C, Delahousse J. Is alexithymia a negative factor for maintaining abstinence? A follow-up study. Compr Psychiatry 1997;38:296-9.
• [6] Gratz KL, Roemer L. The relationship between emotion dysregulation and deliberate self-harm among female undergraduate students at an urban commuter university. Cogn Behav Ther 2008;37:14-25.
• [7] Velotti P, Garofalo C, Petrocchi C, Cavallo F, Popolo R, Dimaggio G. Alexithymia, emotion dysregulation, impulsivity and aggression: A multiple mediation model. Psychiatry Res 2016;237:296-303.
• [8] Wahlstrom LC, Scott JP, Tuliao AP, DiLillo D, McChargue DE. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and aggressive behavior among incarcerated methamphetamine users. J Dual Diagn 2015;11:118-27.
• [9] Stice E. Risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 2002;128:825-48.
• [10] Fox JRE, Power MJ. Eating disorders and multi-level models of emotion: an integrated model. Clin Psychol Psychother 2009;16:240-67.
• [11] Zeeck A, Stelzer N, Linster HW, Joos A, Hartmann A. Emotion and eating in binge eating disorder and obesity. Eur Eat Disord Rev 2011;19:426-37.
• [12] Stice E. Interactive and mediational etiologic models of eating disorder onset: evidence from prospective studies. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2016;12:359-81.
• [13] Heatherton TF, Baumeister RF. Binge eating as escape from self-awareness. Psychol Bull 1991;110:86-108.
• [14] Arnow B, Kenardy J, Agras WS. Binge eating among the obese: a descriptive study. J Behav Med 1992;15:155-70.
• [15] Arnow B, Kenardy J, Agras WS. The emotional eating scale: the development of a measure to assess coping with negative affect by eating. Int J Eat Disord 1995;18:79-90.
• [16] Sasai K, Tanaka K, Hishimoto A. Alexithymia and its relationships with eating behavior, self esteem, and body esteem in college women. Kobe J Med Sci 2011;56:E231-8.
• [17] Bagby RM, Taylor GJ, Parker JDA. The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia scale-II. Convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. J Psychosom Res 1994;38:33-40.
• [18] Güleç H, Köse S, Güleç MY, Çitak S, Evren C, Borckardt J, et al. Reliability and factorial validity of the Turkish version of the 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bulteni 2009;19:213-9.
• [19] Spielberger CD. State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 2010. p1.
• [20] Özer AK. Öfke, kaygı ve depresyon eğilimlerinin bilişsel alt yapısıyla ilgili bir çalışma. Turk Psikolojisi Dergisi 1994;9:15-25. [Article in Turkish]
• [21] Rosenberg M. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. NJ: Princeton University Pres, Princeton; 1965.
• [22] Çuhadaroğlu F. [Self-esteem in adolescence]. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. [Article in Turkish]
• [23] Garner DM, Garfinkel PE. The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med 1979;9:273-9.
• [24] Savaşır I, Erol N. Yeme Tutum Testi: Anoreksiye nervoza belirtiler endeksi. Turk Psikoloji Dergisi 1989;7:19-25. [Article in Turkish]
• [25] Lumley MA, Neely LC, Burger AJ. The assessment of alexithymia in medical settings: implications for understanding and treating health problems. J Pers Assess 2007;89:230-46.
• [26] Zimmermann G, Rossier J, De Stadelhofen FM, Gaillard F. Alexithymia assessment and relations with dimensions of personality. Eur J Psychol Assess 2005;21:23-33.
• [27] Sayar K, Kose S, Grabe HJ, Topbas M. Alexithymia and dissociative tendencies in an adolescent sample from Eastern Turkey. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2005;59:127-34.
• [28] Dreessen L, Arntz A, Hendriks T, Keune N, van den Hout M. Avoidant personality disorder and implicit schema-congruent information processing bias: a pilot study with a pragmatic inference task. Behav Res Ther 1999;37:619-32.
• [29] Evren EC, Can S, Evren B, Çakmak D. The relationship between alexithymia and depression, anxiety and erectile dysfunction in a sample of male alcoholic inpatients: A controlled study. Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bulteni 2002;12:165-73.
• [30] Graugaard PK, Holgersen K, Finset A. Communicating with alexithymic and non-alexithymic patients: an experimental study of the effect of psychosocial communication and empathy on patient satisfaction. Psychother Psychosom 2004;73:92-100.
• [31] Oskis A, Clow A, Hucklebridge F, Bifulco A, Jacobs C, Loveday C. Understanding alexithymia in female adolescents: The role of attachment style. Pers Individ Dif 2013;54:97-102.
• [32] Teten AL, Miller LA, Bailey SD, Dunn NJ, Kent TA. Empathic deficits and alexithymia in trauma-related impulsive aggression. Behav Sci Law 2008;26:823-32.
• [33] Fossati A, Acquarini E, Feeney JA, Borroni S, Grazioli F, Giarolli LE, et al. Alexithymia and attachment insecurities in impulsive aggression. Attach Hum Dev 2009;11:165-82.
• [34] Sayar K, Gulec H, Topbas M. Alexithymia and anger in patients with fibromyalgia. Clin Rheumatol 2004;23:441-8.
• [35] Bekker MHJ, Bachrach N, Croon MA. The relationships of antisocial behavior with attachment styles, autonomy-connectedness, and alexithymia. J Clin Psychol 2007;63:507-27.
• [36] Krug I, Bulik CM, Vall-Llovera ON, Granero R, Agüera Z, Villarejo C, et al. Anger expression in eating disorders: Clinical, psychopathological and personality correlates. Psychiatry Res 2008;161:195-205.
• [37] Miotto P, Pollini B, Restaneo A, Favaretto G, Preti A. Aggressiveness, anger, and hostility in eating disorders. Compr Psychiatry 2008;49:364-73.
• [38] Geller J, Cockell SJ, Hewitt PL, Goldner EM, Flett GL. Inhibited expression of negative emotions and interpersonal orientation in anorexia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord 2000;28:8-19.
• [39] Feinson MC, Hornik-Lurie T. Binge eating & childhood emotional abuse: The mediating role of anger. Appetite 2016;105:487-93.
• [40] Thompson KA, Kelly NR, Schvey NA, Brady SM, Courville AB, Tanofsky-Kraff M, et al. Internalization of appearance ideals mediates the relationship between appearance-related pressures from peers and emotional eating among adolescent boys and girls. Eat Behav 2017;24:66-73.
• [41] Nasser M. Eating disorders across cultures. Psychiatry 2009;8:347-50.
• [42] Bilali A, Galanis P, Velonakis E, Katostaras T. Factors associated with abnormal eating attitudes among Greek adolescents. J Nutr Educ Beha 2010;42:292-8.
• [43] Heck A, Hock A, White H, Jubran R, Bhatt RS. Further evidence of early development of attention to dynamic facial emotions: Reply to Grossmann and Jessen. J Exp Child Psychol 2017;153:155-62.
• [44] Lyons M, Hughes S. Feeling me, feeling you? Links between the Dark Triad and internal body awareness. Pers Individ Dif 2015;86:308-11.
• [45] Sharpe E, Wallis DJ. Attitudes towards emotional expression, emotion regulation and eating psychopathology. Appetite 2014;83:354.
• [46] Shin M-K, Eom JY. Study on the alexithymia and anger in the Korean college students. Advanced Science and Technology Letters (Healtcare and Nursing) 2015;116:189-95.
• [47] Erkic M, Bailer J, Fenske SC, Schmidt SNL, Trojan J, Schröder A, et al. Impaired emotion processing and a reduction in trust in patients with somatic symptom disorder. Clin Psychol Psychother 2018;25:163-72.
• [48] Eom JY, Shin M-K. Relation of alexithymia, anger and binge eating behavior. Int J Bio-Sci Bio-Technol 2016;8:63-70.