Influence of Alexithymia on Somatic Complaints among Japanese Adolescents: A survey research

Abstract

Background The purpose of this study is to examine alexithymic tendencies in Japanese adolescents (aged 12–20) and their effects on somatic complaints. Methods Participants were Japanese adolescents (n = 2,759). Alexithymic tendencies were assessed by the Alexithymia Scale for Adolescents (ASA), and somatic complaints by the Somatic Complaint List (SCL). Results The following results were obtained. 1) ASA total scores remained at a high level from early to late adolescence. 2) Among the ASA subfactors, difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF), increased during adolescence, whereas externally oriented thinking (EOT) decreased; as a result, the ASA total scores remained high. 3) DIF significantly affected somatic complaints among adolescents irrespective of their academic year and gender. 4) DDF only had an effect of increasing somatic complaints in junior high and high school-aged male participants, and this effect disappeared as respondents’ age grew and they were university students. This shows that the effect of alexithymic tendencies on somatic complaints changed with age. Conclusion Compared to the results of previous studies, the results of this study showed that alexithymic tendencies among Japanese adolescents are consistently high. The study further revealed that the increasing somatic complaints were consistently influenced by DIF.