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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: To compare sex differences in alexithymia (poor emotional processing) in males and females with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and uninjured controls.
SETTING: TBI rehabilitation facility in the USA and a University in Canada.
PARTICIPANTS: Sixty adults with moderate to severe TBI (62% males) and 60 uninjured controls (63% males) DESIGN: Cross-sectional.
MAIN MEASURES: Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20).
RESULTS: Uninjured males had significantly higher (worse) alexithymia scores than uninjured female participants on the TAS-20 (p=.007), whereas, no sex differences were found in the TBI group (p=.698). Males and females with TBI had significantly higher alexithymia compared to uninjured same-sex controls (both ps<.001). The prevalence of participants with scores exceeding alexithymia sex-based norms for males and females with TBI was 37.8% and 47.8% respectively, compared to 7.9% and 0% for male and females without TBI.
CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to the majority of findings in the general population, males with TBI were not more alexthymic than their female counterparts with TBI. Both males and females with TBI have more severe alexithymia than their uninjured same-sex peers, and moreover, both are equally at risk for elevated alexithymia compared to norms. Alexithymia should be evaluated and treated after TBI regardless of patient sex.
Language: en |