PERCEIVED PARENTAL ATTITUDE, ALEXITHYMIA AND DEFENSE STYLE IN PSYCHIATRIC OUTPATIENTS

Background: Although it is the clinical impression that alexithymia ma y be due to disturbances in the early parent-child relationship and th at it is associated with primitive defense mechanisms, a possible asso ciation with neurotic defense mechanisms, such as repression and react ion formation, has also been mentioned. However, empirical studies on these and related issues are scarce. The aim of this study was to dete rmine the association between perceived parental attitude, defense mec hanisms and alexithymia. Methods: In a cross-sectional study we obtain ed data from 78 psychiatric outpatients. Alexithymia, defense mechanis ms and perceived parental attitude were measured with the Toronto Alex ithymia Scale, the Defense Style Questionnaire and the Parental Bondin g Instrument. Results: We found only weak associations between perceiv ed parental attitude and alexithymic features. Primitive and adaptive defenses were associated with alexithymic features in a clinically sen sible way. The strongest association was found between primitive defen se mechanisms and alexithymic features. There was hardly any associati on between neurotic defense mechanisms and alexithymic features. Concl usions: The results of our study support the hypothesis that alexithym ia is associated with a primitive defense style, whereas a relation to disturbances in early parent-child relationship could not be confirme d. It is argued that possibly more severe traumatic experiences, such as physical and sexual abuse, than merely a negatively perceived paren tal attitude, are necessary to develop alexithymic features.