The DOI matches its Crossref record; 52 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The role of early emotional neglect in alexithymia
Abstract
Alexithymia is a personality trait associated with difficulties in identifying and communicating personal feelings. It is shown to be a risk factor for affective disorders. Previous studies have demonstrated the co-occurrence of alexithymia and early life stress in clinical samples; however, research in the absence of psychological and somatic disorders rarely exists. We therefore investigated alexithymia and early life stress in a high alexithymic but healthy community sample (n 46) in comparison with low alexithymic healthy subjects (n 44). Alexithymia was assessed by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and BermondVorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Emotional functioning was also measured using the Emotional Experience Scales. Early life stress was assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Early Trauma Inventory. There was a significantly positive correlation between alexithymia and early emotional neglect (EN) in the total sample (r .37; p .001), while physical or sexual traumata were not associated with high alexithymic features. EN also predicted the overall level of alexithymia. Within the high alexithymic group only, EN was related to significantly increased emotional dysfunction when controlling for alexithymia. The results show a first indication of differentiation between a “neglect” and a “nonneglect” subtype of alexithymia. We therefore conclude that EN should be taken into account in future studies on psychological functioning in alexithymia.
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“increased rates of alexithymia in adulthood have been associated with a number of negative experiences in childhood, such as physical or sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and poor family expressiveness (Aust et al., 2013; Berenbaum, 1996; Kench and Irwin, 2000).”
From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Aust et al., 2013
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“Moreover, the genetic tendency [6], trauma expansion [7], neglection in earliest childhood [8], and the development of defense mechanism [9] enables the individuals to suppress their emotions.”
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“Alexithymia has also often been considered as a consequence of childhood risk factors like an unsupportive emotion socialization (e.g., Aust et al., 2013; Le, Berenbaum, & Raghavan, 2002) and sexual abuse (e.g., Thomas et al., 2011), which have themselves been shown to predict psychopathology.”
BackgroundFİBROMİYALJİ HASTALARINDA PSİKOLOJİK DAYANIKLILIK ROLÜNÜN İNCELENMESİ
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Duygusal İhmal ve Duygusal İstismara Müdahale: Bir Pilot Çalışma
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Turhan, C., & Eryılmaz, A. (2025) · Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry · doi:10.18863/pgy.1602868
“While alexithymia was positively correlated with emotional neglect, it was not significantly associated with other childhood traumas such as physical or sexual abuse (Aust et al. 2013).”
InfluentialPomares, A. G., & Villanueva, L. (2025) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.2025.2568757
“The long-term consequences of child neglect, meanwhile, are poorly understood, but studies have argued that neglect (particularly emotional neglect) is related to blunted affective expression, such as alexithymia and unemotional traits of psychopathy (Aust et al., 2013).”
Additional file 1 of Alexithymia and interpersonal problems in healthy young individuals
Koppelberg, P., Kersting, A., & Suslow, T. (2023) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.24181068
Childhood Trauma Subtypes and Alexithymia
Ateşsönmez, B., & KANDEMİR, F. (2025) · Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry · doi:10.18863/pgy.1627449
“It may exert an indirect effect on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal through the mediating role of alexithymia (Aust et al. 2013, Brown et al. 2016, Brown et al. 2018, Khan and Jaffee 2022).”
How well did you cope with COVID?: Early life experiences and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic
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“Thus, TRE avoidance may develop for those who experience ACEs because children who live in emotionally and physically unsafe environments may learn to suppress, deny or distance themselves from their emotional needs (Aust et al., 2013 ; Poletti et al., 2016).”
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“Experiences of neglect and abuse can disturb the development of emotional competencies, resulting in alexithymic personality characteristics, i.e., dif fi culties in identifying and expressing emotions (17, 18).”
Emotion dysregulation in autistic adults : an ecological, self-report, and physiological approach
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“Alexithymia has also been associated with early life stress, with evidence linking it to reduced right hippocampal volume and diminished responses to emotional stimuli [65, 66].”
Recognizing emotional neglect in early childhood settings: A mixed-methods study
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Alexithymia: Current status and future prospects
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Metadata
- Authors
- Aust, S., Härtwig, E. A., Heuser, I., & Bajbouj, M.
- Venue
- Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy
- Published
- 2013-05
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 225-232
- ISSN
- 1942-9681 (ISSN-L)
- 1942-969X
- OpenAlex
- W2327624888
- Cited by
- 134
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 4.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- German Research Foundation (DFG, EXC302)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- alexithymia, early life stress, childhood trauma, emotional functioning, emotional dysregulation, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire
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