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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
09:55

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Published on: March 8, 2018

Alexithymia and somatization in general population.

Aino K Mattila1, Erkki Kronholm, Antti Jula

  • 1Tampere School of Public Health, FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. aino.mattila@uta.fi

Psychosomatic Medicine
|July 4, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Alexithymia, the inability to identify and describe emotions, is independently linked to somatization, which is experiencing physical symptoms without a clear medical cause. This association holds true across diverse adult populations.

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Last Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
09:55

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Published on: March 8, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Psychosomatic Medicine
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The link between alexithymia and somatization is plausible but lacks robust evidence from large, representative population studies.
  • Previous research often involved selected populations, limiting generalizability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between alexithymia and somatization at a population level.
  • To determine if this association persists independently of confounding factors.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Finnish Health 2000 Study, a nationally representative sample of 5129 adults (aged 30-97).
  • Assessed alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and somatization with a 12-item somatization scale.
  • Controlled for sociodemographic variables, depressive and anxiety disorders, and physician-verified somatic diagnoses in multivariate analyses.

Main Results:

  • A significant association was found between alexithymia and somatization, independent of somatic diseases, mental health conditions, and sociodemographic factors.
  • "Difficulties Identifying Feelings," a subscale of the TAS-20, emerged as the strongest shared component between alexithymia and somatization.

Conclusions:

  • This study provides the first evidence of an independent association between alexithymia and somatization in a large, nonclinical, nationally representative adult sample.
  • The findings highlight the importance of considering emotional processing difficulties in the context of unexplained physical symptoms across various health statuses.