Alexithymia and its relationships with eating behavior, self esteem, and body esteem in college women

The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence rate of alexithymia and eating disorder (ED) as well as to explore the relationships between alexithymia and eating behavior, self esteem, and body esteem in non-clinical college women. A total of 313 Japanese college women were asked to make entries of age, height, and body weight, and to answer the full items in the Japanese version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES), and Body Esteem Scale (BES). The frequency of alexithymics who scored 61 points or more of the TAS-20 was 28.7%, and the frequency of students with potential ED who scored 20 points or more of the EAT-26 was 8.7%. The prevalence of potential ED in the alexithymics (14.0%) was significantly higher than that in the non-alexithymics (6.5%). The mean values of the RSES and BES scores were significantly different between the alexithymic and non-alexithymic groups. The TAS-20 scores were unrelated to the age and body mass index, but were significantly correlated to the EAT-26 (total score (r = 0.12, p = 0.04), bulimia and food preoccupation (r = 0.14, p = 0.01)), the RSES (r = -0.44, p < 0.001), and BES (total score (r = -0.22, p < 0.001), appearance (r = -0.23, p < 0.001), and weight (r = -012, p = 0.04)). These results suggest that, in non-clinical college women, alexithymia is a common psychological characteristic that is strongly correlated with self esteem and body esteem and that may influence eating behavior.