Dissociating the impact of alexithymia and impaired self-awareness on emotional distress and aggression after traumatic brain injury.

IF 2.6 3区心理学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES Neuropsychology Pub Date : 2024-02-01 Epub Date: 2023-10-26 DOI:10.1037/neu0000926

Suvi P Dockree, Cathal W Ffrench, Jodie A L O'Hara, Paul A Carroll, Paul M Dockree, Brian E McGuire

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Abstract

Objective: Alexithymia, a deficit in identifying and describing feelings, is prevalent in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sometimes referred to as "emotional unawareness," we sought to investigate whether alexithymia after TBI was related to, or distinct from, impaired self-awareness (ISA) and whether the two predicted differentiable emotional and aggression profiles. Further, the mediating role of frontal system behaviors (disinhibition, dysexecutive function, apathy) was explored.

Method: Participants with TBI (N = 40) from diverse backgrounds completed self-report measures of alexithymia, emotional distress, aggression, and frontal system behaviors. For the assessment of ISA, significant other ratings were obtained to identify discrepancies from self-ratings. Data were analyzed quantitatively using independent samples t tests, correlations, partial correlations, and simple mediation.

Results: There was a negative correlation between alexithymia and ISA. Alexithymia, but not ISA, was associated with higher expressions of emotional distress and aggression even after controlling for the effects of ISA via partial correlations. Exploratory analyses found that frontal system behaviors mediated the relationships between alexithymia and aggression and alexithymia and emotional distress.

Conclusions: Alexithymia is more accurately conceptualized as an emotional processing deficit than an awareness deficit. Indeed, self-awareness may be a prerequisite for the ability to identify alexithymic tendencies. Negative psychological effects of alexithymia are compounded by poorer executive function and disinhibition and call for the development of TBI-specific alexithymia screening tools and interventions. Alexithymia interventions are best delivered in conjunction with rehabilitation of emotion regulation and executive function. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

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消除述情障碍和自我意识受损对创伤性脑损伤后情绪困扰和攻击性的影响。

目的：述情障碍是一种识别和描述情感的缺陷，在创伤性脑损伤中普遍存在。有时被称为“情绪无意识”，我们试图调查TBI后的述情障碍是否与自我意识受损（ISA）有关或不同，以及两者是否预测了可区分的情绪和攻击特征。此外，还探讨了额叶系统行为（去抑制、执行功能障碍、冷漠）的中介作用。方法：来自不同背景的TBI参与者（N=40）完成述情障碍、情绪困扰、攻击性和额系统行为的自我报告测量。对于ISA的评估，获得了重要的其他评级，以确定与自我评级的差异。使用独立样本t检验、相关性、偏相关性和简单中介对数据进行定量分析。结果：述情障碍与ISA呈负相关。Alexithymia，而不是ISA，与更高的情绪困扰和攻击性表达有关，即使在通过部分相关性控制了ISA的影响之后也是如此。探索性分析发现，额叶系统行为介导述情障碍与攻击、述情障碍和情绪困扰之间的关系。结论：与意识缺陷相比，述情障碍更准确地定义为情绪处理缺陷。事实上，自我意识可能是识别述情障碍倾向的能力的先决条件。述情障碍的负面心理影响因执行功能较差和去抑制而加剧，需要开发TBI特异性述情障碍筛查工具和干预措施。述情障碍干预最好与情绪调节和执行功能的康复相结合。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2023 APA，保留所有权利）。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Neuropsychology 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

4.20%

发文量

132

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Neuropsychology publishes original, empirical research; systematic reviews and meta-analyses; and theoretical articles on the relation between brain and human cognitive, emotional, and behavioral function.