Why do alexithymic features appear to be stable? A 12-month follow-up study of a general population

Background. This 12-month follow-up study investigated the prevalence of al exithymia and its relationship with depression in a sample of the general p opulation from Eastern Finland (n = 1,584). Methods: Alexithymia was assess ed using the 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and dep ression using the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: The pre valence of alexithymia in each study phase was similar (baseline: 9.7%; fol low-up: 10.1%). Mean values of BDI, TAS-20 and subfactors of the TAS-20 als o remained unchanged between the study phases. However, by using the origin al cutoff points, we found that a proportion of the subjects were in a diff erent TAS-20 category on follow-up than at baseline. The mean values of BDI had not changed in those subjects who had similar alexithymia status in bo th phases, but increased or decreased in parallel with the change in TAS-20 score among all other subjects. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that it is important to use a variety of viewpoints when studying changes in alexi thymia status. Alexithymia appears to be a stable trait based on the simila rity of the mean TAS-20 scores in separate study phases. However, when focu sing on the changes in alexithymia status at the individual level, alexithy mic features also appear to be state dependent and strongly related to depr essive symptoms. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.