Alexithymia and core conflictual relationship themes: a study in a chronically fatigued primary care population

Clinical studies have indicated that concomitant to problems with affect regulation interpersonal problems can be observed in alexithymic patients. We test whether this is the case, and determine a parsimonious set of typical relationship themes.

Relationship themes were assessed by means of the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) method. This method examines transference patterns, and was applied to clinical interview data collected from a sample (n = 30) of chronically fatigued primary care patients. Alexithymia was assessed by means of a score on the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The data were analyzed by means of the leaps and bounds regression algorithm for selecting optimal subsets of indicators, and by bootstrapping to determine 95% confidence intervals.

Alexithymia can be meaningfully explained by typical relationship themes. A set of two wishes and one response of the self to the other that is most representative of alexithymia was mapped. The wishes demonstrate that the more alexithymic someone is, the less likely it is that this person wishes to be helped by others and the less likely it is that he/she interacts with others in order to feel good about him/herself. The selected response of the self indicates that it is typical of alexithymia that interactions with others do not result in good or happy feelings.

Linking alexithymia to typical relationship themes is valid. Limitations of the study are indicated.