Eating attitudes in female college students with self-reported alexithymic characteristics

Several studies have indicated that there is a close relationship between eating attitudes and alexithymic characteristics. In this study, the influence of parental bonding on the association of alexithymic characteristics and eating attitudes was examined in a sample of 580 college students. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that female students with two alexithymic characteristics, difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings, exhibited more abnormal eating attitudes (poor oral control). Multivariate analysis of covariance gave significant associations with maternal care. Although these subjects were not patients with eating disorders the results suggest that the two alexithymic characteristics studied were associated with lack of maternal care and are a risk factor for eating disorders.