The relation between experiential avoidance, alexithymia and emotion regulation in inpatient adolescents

Recently, efforts have been made to better understand constructs that are associated with difficulties in emotion regulation in hopes of identifying underlying mechanisms that may be valuable targets for intervention. Against this background, the present study had two aims. Firstly, we wanted to explore the relation between emotion regulation, experiential avoidance and alexithymia by determining whether adolescents with elevated scores on a measure of alexithymia would report deficits in emotion regulation and experiential avoidance. Secondly, we sought to evaluate the role of experiential avoidance as a mediator in the relation between alexithymia and emotion regulation. The sample (N = 64) consisted of adolescents recruited from an inpatient facility of which approximately 30% were classified as having alexithymia. The results of this study indicate that adolescents with alexithymia report deficits in emotion regulation and elevated experiential avoidance. Experiential avoidance mediated the relation between alexithymia and emotion regulation, indicating that while the inability to effectively use language to identify and describe emotional states is strongly correlated with difficulties in regulating one's emotions, this relation is mediated by the unwillingness to tolerate aversive private experiences. Limitations and strengths of the present study are also noted.