Identifying bridge symptoms in the alexithymia comorbidity network among Chinese college students and evaluating the...

Alexithymia often co-occurs with emotional symptoms such as anxiety, stress, and depression, as well as cognitive characteristics including boredom proneness, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation, contributing to difficulties in academic, emotional, and interpersonal functioning. However, traditional analytical methods often neglect the dynamic and interactive nature of these symptoms, and few intervention studies have specifically targeted the interconnected structure of this comorbidity. Our study applied a symptom network perspective to explore potential underlying mechanisms and guide a focused intervention approach.

Study 1 employed network analysis (NA) to identify bridge symptoms linking alexithymia to its comorbid features among 1024 Chinese college students. Study 2 evaluated a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) specifically designed to target those bridge symptoms. 70 participants with alexithymia randomly selected from study1 and assigned to either an MBI or a control group. The MBI group received the intervention once a week for 8 weeks, whereas the control group received no treatment. Outcome measures were collected at pre-intervention, post-intervention and at 1-month follow-up.

Study 1 suggested that anxiety and stress serve as bridge symptoms. In study 2, participants in the MBI group showed greater improvements than the control group across alexithymia, anxiety, stress, depression, boredom proneness, and intolerance of uncertainty. Most changes were maintained at 1-month follow-up.

Our findings provide preliminary support for the value of combining NA with targeted intervention design. By addressing bridge symptoms, such interventions may offer a more integrated approach to reducing alexithymia and its related symptoms among college students.