Abstract
The authors examined ratings on four scales of alexithymia in 45 patients in four groups: Vietnam veterans in inpatient (Inpt-PTSD) or outpatient (Outpt-PTSD) treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), patients on a medical service with somatic illnesses that have been the subject of psychosomatic research (Somatic), and a comparison group of psychiatric inpatients with a diagnosis of affective disorder (Affective). The data suggest a greater degree of alexithymia in the Inpt-PTSD and Somatic samples than in the Affective patients. In addition, the Inpt-PTSD and Somatic groups exhibited a similar degree of alexithymia. This study also introduces a novel measure of alexithymia, the Alexithymia Provoked Response Questionnaire (APRQ), which showed a high degree of interrater reliability and a greater degree of correlation with the Beth Israel Psychosomatic Questionnaire (BIPQ) than a MMPI subscale or the Schalling-Sifneos scale.
Keywords
AlexithymiaClinical psychologyPsychologyPsychiatryPosttraumatic stressMinnesota Multiphasic Personality InventoryPersonality
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1986
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 84-94
- Citations
- 194
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
John H. Krystal,
Earl L. Giller,
Dante Cicchetti
(1986).
Assessment of alexithymia in posttraumatic stress disorder and somatic illness: introduction of a reliable measure..
Psychosomatic Medicine
, 48
(1)
, 84-94.
https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198601000-00007
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1097/00006842-198601000-00007