Illuminating the theoretical components of alexithymia using bifactor modeling and network analysis

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Personality Science

Background:

• Alexithymia is a personality construct linked to psychiatric disorders, characterized by deficits in affect awareness and operative thinking.
• Debate exists regarding whether restricted imaginal processes (IMP) and externally oriented thinking (EOT) are core components of alexithymia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To clarify the components of alexithymia and their interrelationships.
• To investigate the salience of different alexithymia facets using advanced statistical methods.

Main Methods:

• Employed bifactor modeling and network analysis on a large, multilanguage sample (N = 839) using the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA).
• Confirmatory bifactor modeling assessed the general factor of alexithymia and component reliability.
• Network analysis examined item interrelationships and community structures within the TSIA.

Main Results:

• Bifactor modeling supported a strong general factor of alexithymia, but IMP variance was largely independent of this factor.
• Network analysis revealed distinct communities for difficulty identifying feelings (DIF)/difficulty describing feelings (DDF) and for EOT/IMP.
• Central items were predominantly in the DIF/DDF community, with IMP items connected mainly through EOT.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that IMP, as measured by the TSIA, might be less integral to the alexithymia construct compared to DIF, DDF, and EOT.
• Affect awareness (DIF, DDF) and operative thinking (EOT) appear to be more central components of alexithymia.
• This research contributes to a refined understanding of alexithymia's structure and its constituent elements.