A prospective long-term follow-up study of alexithymia in obsessive-compulsive disorder
| Autor: | Helmut Peter, Michael Rufer, Heike Alsleben, Jürgen Ortmann, Anne Ziegler, Susanne Fricke, Eva Brückner, Iver Hand |
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| Rok vydání: | 2006 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder medicine.medical_specialty lcsh:RC435-571 Long term follow up media_common.quotation_subject behavioral disciplines and activities Toronto Alexithymia Scale Alexithymia Rating scale lcsh:Psychiatry mental disorders medicine Humans Personality Affective Symptoms Prospective Studies Young adult Psychiatry Depression (differential diagnoses) media_common Psychiatric Status Rating Scales medicine.diagnostic_test Middle Aged medicine.disease Psychiatry and Mental health Clinical Psychology Regression Analysis Female Psychology Anxiety disorder Follow-Up Studies |
| Zdroj: | Comprehensive Psychiatry, Vol 47, Iss 5, Pp 394-398 (2006) |
| ISSN: | 0010-440X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.comppsych.2005.12.004 |
| Popis: | Background: Studies evaluating the stability of alexithymia over long follow-up periods are rare. We examined the temporal stability of alexithymia in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) over 6 years and the association of alexithymia with the long-term outcome of OCD. Sampling and Methods: Of 42 patients with OCD, 34 (81%) could be reassessed 6 years after inpatient treatment. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were used at pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up. Results: The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale total scores and its factors 1 and 2 decreased significantly during follow-up, whereas factor 3 remained stable. High correlations of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale total scores (r = 0.84, P < .001) and its 3 factors emerged between posttreatment and follow-up, suggesting relative stability over several years. Regression analyses (with and without controlling for depressive symptoms) showed that higher alexithymia scores did not predict a worse long-term outcome of OCD. Conclusions: Relative stability over such a very long follow-up period strongly supports the view that alexithymia is a stable psychologic characteristic in patients with OCD. The result that higher alexithymia scores were not associated with poorer long-term outcome of OCD might be explained with the decrease of alexithymia during treatment and follow-up. However, our sample size was small, and further research is clearly required to evaluate the impact of changes in alexithymia and its association with the course of OCD. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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