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Alexithymia, aggressive behavior and depression among Lebanese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: Background:For a long time, Lebanon has been considered an unstable country. This can have a negative impact on Lebanese adolescents that consequently face secondary emotional stress, leading to more mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and alexithymia. The objective of this study was to assess the association between alexithymia, depression and aggressive behavior in a sample of Lebanese adolescents. Methods:This is a cross-sectional study, conducted between September 2018 and February 2019, which enrolled 568 young adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years using a proportionate sample from two Lebanese governorates. Out of 750 questionnaires distributed, 568 (75.73%) were completed and collected back. Results:The mean age was 15.87?±?0.82 years, with 302 (53.2%) females; 180 (31.7%) were alexithymic, 193 (34.0%) and 181 (31.9%) had moderate (scores between (89 and 111) and high (scores???112) aggression respectively, whereas 176 (31.0%) and 149 (26.2%) had moderate (scores between 3 and 4) and high (scores???5) depression respectively. Higher levels of alexithymia were significantly associated with higher depression (Beta?=?0.44), higher total aggression (Beta?=?0.78), higher physical aggression (Beta?=?0.24), higher verbal aggression (Beta?=?0.14), higher anger (Beta?=?0.22), and higher hostility (Beta?=?0.19). Conclusion:The prevalence of alexithymic behaviors, as well as aggression and depression in Lebanese students appears to be very high in comparison with students worldwide. Alexithymia was significantly associated with higher depression, physical and verbal aggression, anger and hostility among adolescents. Factors underlying the high level of alexithymia remain not fully elucidated.

SUBMITTER: Sfeir E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7487493 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Alexithymia, aggressive behavior and depression among Lebanese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

Sfeir Elsa E Geara Claudine C Hallit Souheil S Obeid Sahar S

Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health 20200905

<h4>Background</h4>For a long time, Lebanon has been considered an unstable country. This can have a negative impact on Lebanese adolescents that consequently face secondary emotional stress, leading to more mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and alexithymia. The objective of this study was to assess the association between alexithymia, depression and aggressive behavior in a sample of Lebanese adolescents.<h4>Methods</h4>This is a cross-sectional study, conducted between Septem ...[more]

PMID: 32939221

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Project description:BackgroundAlexithymia (difficulties in identifying and describing emotion) is a transdiagnostic trait implicated in social-emotional and mental health problems in the general population. Many autistic individuals experience significant social-communication difficulties and elevated anxiety/depression and alexithymia. Nevertheless, the role of alexithymia in explaining individual variability in the quality/severity of social-communication difficulties and/or anxiety and depression symptoms in autism remains poorly understood.MethodsIn total, 337 adolescents and adults (autism N = 179) were assessed for alexithymia on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and for social-communication difficulties, anxiety and depression symptoms. A total of 135 individuals (autism N = 76) were followed up 12-24 months later. We used regression models to establish cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between alexithymia, social-communication difficulties, anxiety and depression symptoms.ResultsAutistic individuals reported significantly higher alexithymia than comparison individuals (p < 0.001, r effect size = 0.48), with 47.3% of autistic females and 21.0% of autistic males meeting cut-off for clinically relevant alexithymia (score ⩾61). Difficulties in describing feelings were particularly associated with current self-reported social-communication difficulties [p < 0.001, β = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.67] and predicted later social-communication difficulties (p = 0.02, β = 0.43, 95% CI 0.07-0.82). Difficulties in identifying feelings were particularly associated with current anxiety symptom severity (p < 0.001, β = 0.54, 95% CI 0.41-0.77) and predicted later anxiety (p = 0.01; β = 0.31, 95% CI 0.08-0.62).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that difficulties in identifying v. describing emotion are associated with differential clinical outcomes in autism. Psychological therapies targeting emotional awareness may improve social-communication and anxiety symptoms in autism, potentially conferring long-term benefits.

Project description:BackgroundA much higher prevalence of alexithymia has been reported in medical students compared with the general population, and alexithymia is a risk factor that increases vulnerability to mental disorders. Our aim was to evaluate the level of alexithymia in Chinese medical students and to explore its influencing factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 1,950 medical students at Shenyang Medical College was conducted in May 2014 to evaluate alexithymia in medical students using the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by Cronbach's ? coefficient and mean inter-item correlations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate construct validity. The relationships between alexithymia and influencing factors were examined using Student's t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0.ResultsOf the 1,950 medical students, 1,886 (96.7%) completed questionnaires. Overall, Cronbach's ? coefficient of the TAS-20 questionnaire was 0.868. The results of CFA showed that the original three-factor structure produced an acceptable fit to the data. By univariate analysis, gender, grade (academic year of study), smoking behavior, alcohol use, physical activity, history of living with parents during childhood, and childhood trauma were influencing factors of TAS-20 scores (p?<?0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that gender, physical activity, grade, living with parents, and childhood trauma also had statistically significant association with total TAS-20 score (p?<?0.05).ConclusionsGender, physical activity, grade, history of living with parents during childhood, and childhood trauma were all factors determining the level of alexithymia. To prevent alexithymia, it will be advisable to promote adequate physical activity and pay greater attention to male medical students and those who are in the final year of training.

Project description:Little is known regarding the health and lifestyle behaviours of Australians of Lebanese ethnicity. The available evidence suggests that Australians of Lebanese ethnicity who were born in Lebanon reportedly have higher rates of cardiovascular disease-related and type 2 diabetes-related complications when compared with the wider Australian population. The aim of this study is to compare lifestyle behaviours of middle-aged to older adults of Lebanese ethnicity born in Lebanon, Australia, and elsewhere to those of Australian ethnicity. Participants were 37,419 Australians aged ?45 years, from the baseline dataset of The 45 and Up Study which included 4 groups of interest: those of Australian ethnicity (n = 36,707) [Reference]; those of Lebanese ethnicity born in Lebanon (n = 346); 302 those of Lebanese ethnicity born in Australia (n = 302); and those of Lebanese ethnicity born elsewhere (n = 64). Multilevel logistic regression was used to examine the odds of those of Lebanese ethnicity reporting suboptimal lifestyle behaviours (insufficient physical activity, prolonged sitting, smoking, sleep duration, and various diet-related behaviours) relative to those of Australian ethnicity. Multilevel linear regression was used to examine the clustering of suboptimal lifestyle behaviours through a 'lifestyle index' score ranging from 0-9 (sum of all lifestyle behaviours for each subject). The lifestyle index score was lower among Lebanese-born (-0.36, 95% CI -0.51, -0.22, p<0.001) and Australian-born (-0.17, 95% CI -0.32, -0.02, p = 0.031) people of Lebanese ethnicity in comparison to those of Australian ethnicity. Those of Lebanese ethnicity born in Lebanon had higher odds of reporting suboptimal lifestyle behaviours for physical activity, smoking, and sleep duration, and lower odds of reporting optimal lifestyle behaviours for sitting time, fruit, processed meat, and alcohol consumption, when compared with those of Australian ethnicity. Differences in the individual lifestyle behaviours for those of Lebanese ethnicity born in Australia and elsewhere compared with those of Australian ethnicity were fewer. Lifestyle behaviours of those of Lebanese ethnicity vary by country of birth and a lower level of suboptimal lifestyle behaviour clustering was apparent among Lebanese-born and Australian-born middle-aged to older adults of Lebanese ethnicity.

Dataset Information

Alexithymia, aggressive behavior and depression among Lebanese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

Publications

Alexithymia, aggressive behavior and depression among Lebanese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

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