Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by a deficit in the cognitive processing and regulation of emotion. The well documented association of alexithymia with illness has prompted investigations into pathways that might explain this association, such as physiological mechanisms or increased illness behaviour. The first aim of the present research was to explore the hypothesis that alexithymia has the potential to lead to disease because of peculiarities in physiological reactivity to emotional stimuli. The second aim was to examine the influence of alexithymia on self-report of somatic symptoms associated with a controlled medical event, and to extend assessment of cardiovascular reactivity to a qualitatively different emotional stressor in a quasi-naturalistic setting, thereby increasing generalizability. In Study One, film clips selected to induce positive and negative emotions were presented to high- and low-alexithymia men and women while physiological and cognitive-experiential facets of emotional responding were monitored. High-alexithymia males displayed reduced respiratory sinus arrhythmia in response to emotion induction, significantly different from the increase shown by others. This effect was independent of emotional valence or specificity. High-alexithymia individuals also reported lower ratings of positive emotions, greater confusion, and differences in thoughts related to evaluating and regulating their affective state. In Study Two, investigation of cardiovascular and emotional reactivity was extended beyond the laboratory to the blood donation clinic, which also provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the association between alexithymia and self-report of vasovagal symptoms. Alexithymia was positively associated with reported anxiety, pain, and vasovagal symptoms, and also with greater increases in systolic blood pressure in anticipation of blood donation. Objective indices of vasovagal reactions did not concur with self-report, suggesting an increased tendency in individuals higher in alexithymia to report more somatic complaints. In sum, while these data provide support for associations between alexithymia and differences in autonomic reactivity, these associations do not all fit neatly within a hypo- or hyperarousal model. Further research is recommended using methods such as ambulatory monitoring to examine response to more naturally occurring emotional events. Continued investigation of illness behaviours such as symptom reporting as they relate to alexithymia is also warranted.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.100330 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Byrne, Nelson J. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | © Nelson J. Byrne, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002481675, proquestno: AAINR25109, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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