@article{ref1,
title="The stability of alexithymia during work in a high-stress environment: a prospective study of Swedish peacekeepers serving in Kosovo",
journal="Scandinavian journal of psychology",
year="2010",
author="Larsson, Magnus R. and Bäckström, Martin and Michel, Per-Olof and Lundh, Lars-Gunnar",
volume="51",
number="4",
pages="350-355",
abstract="We applied a prospective design to reinvestigate the issue whether the sub-domains of alexithymia could be considered stable traits or distress-related states. Assessments of alexithymia and subjective distress were conducted before deployment to Kosovo in a sample of male peacekeepers. A second assessment was conducted approximately six months later during the final phase of service. The results showed evidence of moderate to high relative stability in all alexithymic sub-domains. It was also found that a relative change in subjective distress predicted a relative change in difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings but not in externally oriented thinking. We suggest therefore that the alexithymic sub-domains could be considered relatively stable traits but that the level of difficulty identifying and describing feeling varies with the level of subjective distress.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0036-5564",
doi="10.1111/j.1467-9450.2010.00807.x",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2010.00807.x"
}