[Alexithymia and depression: relationship to cigarette smoking, nicotine dependence and motivation to quit smoking]

The aim of the study was to examine an alexithymia score and depression among people smoking cigarettes and also to examine association between alexithymia, depression and smoking index, nicotine addiction, the motivation to quit smoking. The study comprised 46 people from Warsaw and its environs, without pulmonary, cardiovascular or neoplastic diseases, with at least medium education. The subjects were qualified into two groups: group I (n = 22) - subjects who had never smoked cigarettes, and group II - currently smoking (n=24). The total alexithymia score and scores of alexithymia subscales: difficulty in identifying feelings (TIE), b) difficulty in communicating feelings (TOU), c) externally oriented thinking (OSM) were assessed with Toronto Alexi. thymia Scale 20 (TAS-20). Beck Depression Inventory (Scale) (BDI) was used to evaluate presence and intensification of depression symptoms. The tobacco addiction rate was assessed with the Fagestrom questionnaire, and the motivation to quit smoking with the Schneider test. All data were obtained during individual exami. nations. The mean alexithymia score in the nonsmokers group was 38.6+/-8.8, in the smokers group: 46.6+/-13.0. The differences between the groups were statistically significant (p=0.02). Both difficulty in identifying feelings (TIE) and difficulty in communicating feelings (TOU) scores were significantly higher in the smokers (TIE p=0.01; TOU p=0.03). There were no differences in externally oriented thinking. It was found that people smoking cigarettes had a significantly higher level of intensification of depression symptoms than the controls. There was not any correlation between the total alexithymia score and depression symptoms or smoking index, the degree of nicotine addiction, the motivation to quit smoking.