Alessandro Toni

Stability of Alexithymia and Its Relationships with the ‘Big Five’ Factors, Temperament, Character, and Attachment Style

Background: Controversy still exists concerning the stability of the alexithymia construct. Also, although alexithymia has been found to be related in a theoretically meaningful way to other personality constructs such as the ‘Big Five’ factors, few studies have investigated its relationship with influential constructs such as temperament and character, and attachment security. Methods: Two hundred twenty-one undergraduate and graduate students were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Zung Depression Scale (ZDS), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-125), the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), and the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire. After 1 month, 115 participants completed again the TAS-20, STAI, and ZDS. Results: Alexithymia was only moderately correlated with depression and anxiety. Both the absolute and relative stability of TAS-20 total and subscale scores was high, and a negligible portion of their change over time was accounted for by changes in depression or anxiety. In separate multiple regression models including also gender, age, depression and anxiety, TAS-20 total and subscale scores were correlated with low energy/extraversion, low emotional stability, openness, low friendliness/agreeableness; harm avoidance, low self-directedness, low cooperativeness, low reward dependence; attachment-related avoidance and anxiety. Conclusions: Our findings lend support for both absolute and relative stability of alexithymia, corroborate an association between alexithymia and insecure attachment, and contribute to a coherent placing of alexithymia in the broader theoretical network of personality constructs.

Stability of attachment-related anxiety and avoidance and their relationships with the five-factor model and the psychobiological model of personality

OBJECTIVES The stability of attachment-related anxiety and avoidance and their relationship with influential personality models are issues worth further investigation. Studying discriminant validity with respect to aspects of personality deemed as prevalently heritable, such as temperament, is particularly important. Our aims were to examine the stability of attachment dimensions and to study their relationship with psychological distress, the Big Five factors, and temperament and character dimensions. METHODS The Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Zung depression scale (ZDS), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-125), and the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) were administered to 222 undergraduate and graduate students. After 1 month, 115 participants completed again the ECR, the STAI, and the ZDS. RESULTS Attachment-related anxiety was modestly correlated with depression and anxiety, while attachment-related avoidance was modestly correlated with depression. The test-retest reliability of ECR scores was high. Changes in attachment-related anxiety were not related to changes in depression or anxiety, and changes in attachment-related avoidance were modestly correlated with changes in depression. In separate multiple regression models also including gender and age, attachment-related anxiety was correlated with harm avoidance, reward dependence, low novelty seeking, low self-directedness and low cooperativeness; low energy/extraversion and low emotional stability; attachment-related avoidance was correlated with low reward dependence and tended to be correlated with low self-directedness. CONCLUSIONS These findings corroborate the reliability and the convergent and discriminant validity of the ECR, and support the notion that the attachment dimensions are only modestly related to psychological distress and are not redundant with constructs developed within influential personality models such as the five-factor model and the psychobiological model.

Attachment and field dependence: Individual differences in information processing

The present research analyzes the relationship between attachment styles at an adult age and field dependence in order to identify possible individual differences in information processing. The “Experience in Close Relationships” test of Brennan et al. was administered to a sample of 380 individuals (160 males, 220 females), while a subsample of 122 subjects was given the Embedded Figure Test to measure field dependence. Confirming the starting hypothesis, the results have shown that individuals with different attachment styles have a different way of perceiving the figure against the background. Ambivalent and avoidant individuals lie at the two extremes of the same dimension while secure individuals occupy the central part. Significant differences also emerged between males and females.

Measurement invariance of the experiences in close relationships questionnaire across different populations

The measurement invariance of the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire was investigated across four samples of non-clinical subjects (N = 222), dermatological patients (N = 458), psychiatric inpatients (N = 156), and patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (N = 101). The results provided evidence of configural, metric, and scalar invariance across groups. Overall, our findings provide further support to the reliability and validity of the ECR.

Abuso, trascuratezza e il controllo degli eventi: il paradosso dell’attaccamento

Dalle ricerche condotte finora emergono risultati non uniformi sui Modelli Mentali dell’Attaccamento (IWM) e sul locus of control dei bambini maltrattati. Nel nostro studio abbiamo preso in considerazione queste due variabili in 60 ragazzi abusati e trascurati e in 100 controlli, e analizzato le associazioni tra locus of control e attaccamento. Per la misura degli IWM abbiamo utilizzato la versione modificata da Attili (2001b) del SAT di Klagsbrun e Bowlby (1976) e per il locus of control la scala di Nowicki- Strickland (1973). IWM disorganizzati ed evitanti emergono nell’abuso e il 40% di IWM sicuri nella trascuratezza. Nel maltrattamento il locus of control e sempre esterno, anche nei bambini trascurati sicuri. I dati confermano che caregiver abusanti producono IWM insicuri e locus of control esterni. Nella trascuratezza, tuttavia, in cui i bambini non abbiano esperito pericoli provenienti dai loro genitori, e possibile riscontrare attaccamenti sicuri anche se accompagnati da locus esterni.

Trascuratezza emotiva, attaccamento e ansia da separazione nei disturbi alimentari : uno studio su pazienti adolescenti e sui loro genitori

E stata confrontata, in un gruppo di pazienti con disturbi alimentari (N = 101, eta media = 15.3 anni), la trascuratezza emotiva da parte del padre e della madre esperita da coloro che avevano modelli mentali dell’attaccamento (IWM) con alta ansia da separazione versus quella esperita da coloro con IWM a bassa ansia. E stata, inoltre, investigata l’associazione tra IWM ad alta ansia e sintomi psicopatologici. Gli stili parentali sono stati, poi, ricondotti agli IWM ad alta/bassa ansia dei genitori. Ai pazienti e ai loro genitori e stato somministrato il SAT per la misura degli IWM dell’attaccamento, ai pazienti il PBI per la misura del legame con i genitori e l’SCL-90 per lo spettro psicopatologico. I risultati evidenziano nei pazienti con IWM ad alta ansia maggior Costrizione Affettiva e Controllo non Affettivo da parte della madre e legami Deboli-assenti con il padre, e piu sintomi psicopatologici. Inoltre, stili distorti di accudimento si associano a IWM ad alta ansia dei genitori stessi.

Reazioni dei genitori in situazioni problematiche e attribuzioni di causa: le aspettative dei bambini maltrattati

Questo lavoro analizza le aspettative dei minori maltrattati su: reazioni dei genitori in eventi problematici, il proprio comportamento, le attribuzioni di causa e di colpa, e le emozioni. A 60 bambini abusati e trascurati (38 maschi, eta media = 10.96 anni) e a 100 appartenenti a un gruppo di controllo (44 maschi, eta media = 8.7 anni) sono state mostrate le tavole di Franchini e Maiolo (2005) rappresentanti situazioni difficili e chiesto di rispondere a domande sulle aspettative del comportamento dei genitori e del protagonista. I risultati mostrano nei maltrattati una aspettativa significativa di indisponibilita dei genitori a rassicurare nelle difficolta e un’attribuzione di comportamenti di rimprovero, punizione e disconferma. Al protagonista viene attribuita un’incapacita di chiedere aiuto e utilizzare strategie per ottenere i propri scopi. Gli eventi problematici vengono ricondotti a cause interne con aspettative di punizioni sproporzionate al comportamento e attribuzioni di colpa, che danno luogo a dolore, vergogna e rabbia. Si argomenta che queste aspettative, piu delle esperienze reali, potrebbero essere i mediatori dei disturbi riscontrati nei bambini maltrattati.