Citation

Lyvers M, Mayer K, Needham K, Thorberg FA. J. Clin. Psychol. (Hoboken) 2019; 75(7): 1288-1304.

Affiliation

National Center for Dual Diagnosis, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jclp.22772

PMID

30848836

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: A developmental model of alexithymia in relation to alcohol-related risk was examined.

METHOD: Validated indices of parental bonding, adult attachment, alexithymia, theory of mind (ToM), alcohol-related risk, and mood were administered to a nonclinical sample of 286 alcohol-using men and women.

RESULTS: Hierarchical regression incorporating demographic and psychosocial variables accounted for 44% of the variance in alexithymia. Modeling indicated a significant path from dysfunctional maternal bonding to insecure adult attachment to alexithymia to risky drinking; a separate path indicated an indirect effect of alexithymia in association between the deficient ToM and risky drinking.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings were consistent with a developmental model where dysfunctional parental bonding in childhood manifests in adulthood as insecure attachment and alexithymia, the latter reflecting the insufficient acquisition of emotion regulation skills; alexithymia, in turn, increases the risk of problematic drinking as an emotion regulation strategy.

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol abuse; alexithymia; emotion regulation; theory of mind