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The stability of alexithymia during work in a high-stress environment: A prospective study of Swedish peacekeepers serving in Kosovo.

Author

Summary, in English

Larsson, M. R., Bäckström, M., Michel, P.-O. & Lundh, L.-G. (2010). The stability of alexithymia during work in a high-stress environment: A prospective study of Swedish peacekeepers serving in Kosovo. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. We applied a prospective design to reinvestigate the issue whether the sub-domains of alexithymia could be considered stable traits or distress-related states. Assessments of alexithymia and subjective distress were conducted before deployment to Kosovo in a sample of male peacekeepers. A second assessment was conducted approximately six months later during the final phase of service. The results showed evidence of moderate to high relative stability in all alexithymic sub-domains. It was also found that a relative change in subjective distress predicted a relative change in difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings but not in externally oriented thinking. We suggest therefore that the alexithymic sub-domains could be considered relatively stable traits but that the level of difficulty identifying and describing feeling varies with the level of subjective distress.

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

350-355

Publication/Series

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology

Volume

51

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Topic

  • Psychology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1467-9450