Alexithymia and repression: contrasting emotion-focused coping styles

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychophysiology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Emotion-focused coping styles are linked to physical well-being.
• Alexithymia and repressive coping are conceptually similar but distinct constructs.
• Understanding their relationship is crucial for psychological and physical health research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare alexithymia and repressive coping using psychometric and psychophysiological methods.
• To differentiate between high and low anxious individuals and repressors.
• To analyze emotional response patterns during a stressful task.

Main Methods:

• 86 healthy female subjects were classified as low anxious, high anxious, or repressors.
• Psychometric measures included alexithymia self-report questionnaires.
• Psychophysiological assessment involved comparing self-reported negative affect with heart rate during a stressful speech task.

Main Results:

• High anxious subjects scored significantly higher on alexithymia than repressors.
• High alexithymics showed greater self-reported negative affect than heart rate response (high anxious pattern).
• Low alexithymics displayed a heart rate response exceeding self-reported negative affect (repressor pattern).

Conclusions:

• Alexithymia and repressive coping are distinct psychological constructs.
• Repressive coping aligns more closely with low alexithymia than high alexithymia.
• These findings clarify the differential impact of coping styles on emotional and physiological responses.