Alexithymia In Pregnant Women: Its Relationship With Depression
- Author:
Monavar Gilanifar
;
Mouloud Agajani Delavar
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Alexithymia;
Depression;
Pregnancy
- From:ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry
2016;17(1):1-7
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Objective: Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by the subclinical
inability to identify and describe emotions in the self. The aim of this
study was to determine the prevalence of alexithymia, among pregnant women
and to assess the relationship between depression and alexithymia, as well as its
sub scales with depression in the respondents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional
study using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to determine respondents
with alexithymia. Depression scores among respondents were measured using
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-short version 13 items. Results: A total of 390
pregnant women completed the self-report questionnaires. The prevalence of
alexithymia was found to be 27.9%. Two hundred-one of the total 390 pregnant
women were diagnosed with depression; 23.3% were classified as mild, 24.6% as
moderate, and 3.6% as severe depression respectively. The alexithymia was
found to have correlation with depression (r=0.148, P=0.032). A correlation was
also found between depression and sub scales' scores, difficulty in identifying
feelings, DIF (r= 0.374, P= 0.0001) and difficulty in describing feelings, DDF (r=
0.204, P= 0.0001). There was no significant correlation in an externally oriented
thinking (EOT) and depression in pregnant female participants. After adjusting
for possible confounding variables, women with alexithymia had a 2.67 increased
risk of suffering from depression compared to women who did not have
alexithymia. Conclusions: This study shows a high prevalence of alexithymia in
pregnant women in a community in Babol, Iran. The alexithymic women had
more accentuated signs of depression than non-alexithymic women during the
prenatal period. Therefore, it is important to screen pregnant women for an
alexithymia, and include the mentioned education in pregnancy counseling
classes in the private and public institutions
- Full text:P020160302017158093613.pdf
