The impact of alexithymia on the emotional stability in adolescents

• Tatyana Bonkalo Instituto de Investigación de Organización Sanitaria y Gestión Médica del Departamento de Sanidad de Moscú, Moscú, Rusia
• Elena Volodarskaya Instituto S.I. Vavilov para la Historia de la Ciencia y la Tecnología de la Academia Rusa de Ciencias, Moscú, Rusia
• Vera Makeeva Universidad Estatal de Educación Física, Deporte, Juventud y Turismo, Moscú, Rusia
• Zhanetа Sabanchieva Universidad Estatal de Kabardino-Balkaria que lleva el nombre de H.M. Berbekov, Nalchik, Rusia.
• Sergey Barkalov Instituto de Derecho Oryol del Ministerio del Interior de la Federación de Rusia que lleva el nombre de V. V. Lukyanov, Oryol, Rusia.
• Dmitriy Savchenko Universidad Estatal de Administración, Moscú, Moscú, Rusia

Keywords: Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, Emotional sphere, Emotional reflection, Psychological factors, Stress

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is generally accepted that there has been a striking increase in the total number of depression, psychosomatic disorders, self-destructive behaviour, stress and occupational burnout among people. The research involved 91 people, including 65 young females and 26 young males aged 18 to 24. They included college and university students, young workers and employees. The Psychological Tests Online website was used for this purpose. Testing is free and anonymous. We have subjected the entire data set to quantitative and qualitative analysis, using statistical methods for data analysis: descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U-test (for non-linked samples) and Kruskal-Wallis H-test. Non-alexithymic personality type was detected in 57,1% of the respondents, i.e. the majority of the sample. 26,4% of the total research sample were in the 'at-risk group' for alexithymia, and 16,5% of young people were identified as having an alexithymic personality type. The emotional stability of respondents in the 'normal' and 'at-risk' groups differed significantly on the scales of 'self-esteem, 'satisfaction', anxiety', 'hypochondria', and 'sense of guilt'. Consequently, self-esteem and satisfaction levels are higher among young males and females with non-alexithymic personality type than among young males and females who are at risk group. Meanwhile, young males and females with non-alexithymic personality type have lower levels of anxiety, hypochondria and sense of guilt.

 

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