Intergenerational association of alexithymic characteristics for college students and their mothers

The intergenerational association of alexithymic characteristics of mothers and their children were examined in a sample of 232 pairs of college stude nts and their mothers. Scores on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Parental Bo nding Inventory, and the Family Environmental Scale of college students wer e significantly correlated with their mothers' memories of when they were a lso 20 years old. College students' scores were significantly correlated wi th their mothers' scores on each questionnaire. The student-mother pairs we re further divided into two family types, nuclear and extended families. Co rrelations were higher for scores of the nuclear family than for those of t he extended family. Such results suggest there may be intergenerational tra nsmission of alexithymia and related factors from mothers to children.