The correlation between alexithymia and anxiety, depression in asthma

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by the inability to identify and describe emotions. Only few researches have studied the correlation between alexithymia and health factors in psychosomatic disorders. This study aimed to determine the correlation between alexithymia and anxiety, depression in asthmatic patients.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on all asthmatic patients referred to Khorram Abad medical centers. Among them 100 cases were chosen using the convenience sampling. The tools were Alexithymia Scale )TAS-20( along with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale )HADS(. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and Multivariate Regression.
A significant positive relationship was seen between aalexithymia, its factors and anxiety/depression. In addition, multiple multivariate regression analysis showed that difficulty in identifying feelings and describing feelings can predict the anxiety and depression.
Findings showed that difficulty in identifying and describing emotions as two factors of Alexithymia in asthmatic patients can predict the depression and anxiety. So, considering the emotional aspects of asthma, effective approaches should be taken into account in the treatment of these patient's mental health problems.