Self-Awareness in alexithymia and associations with social anxiety

Determinants of consumer adoption of multilingual self-service ordering systems in fast food restaurants

Due to the increasing number of international exchanges, foreign users have gradually become a significant consumer segment. Many of them are not proficient in the local language. Providing them with native language services will be an important trend, both from a business and a humanistic perspective. The purpose of this study is to investigate the fast-food restaurant ordering system that can provide multilingual services for foreigners, and to investigate factors that influence fast food restaurant consumers to adopt multilingual self-service ordering systems. Based on the characteristics of foreign users, we have proposed experience factors such as convenience, translation quality, social anxiety, and the Flow. According to research, the convenience of the service has a strong direct impact on consumers' intention to use, social anxiety has a weak direct impact on consumers' intention to use, and translation quality has a weak direct impact on consumers' intention to use through the intermediate variable of social anxiety. Particularly, Flow experience is not associated with intention to use. The Flow state is one in which users are completely immersed and do not notice time or the surroundings when the perceived difficulty of a task matches their abilities. The purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of the customer evaluation criteria for multilingual self-service systems, as well as to establish the MSSS model for future research on multilingual self-service systems.

The role of developmental caregiving programming in modulating our affiliation tendency and the vulnerability to social anxiety and eating disorders

Attachment is the evolutionarily-established process through which humans create bonds with others to receive care from them. The phenomenon is as essential to our physical survival as it is to our psychological development. An increasing number of studies demonstrates that in sensitive periods during the early years of life, our brain circuitry is programmed in the interactions with our caregivers, with the imprinting of information over multiple attachment dimensions. Adopting a basic brain-computer analogy, we can think of this knowledge as the psycho-social firmware of our mind. According to a recently proposed extension of the classical three-dimensional view, one attachment dimension - somaticity - concerns the caregiver's task of reflecting and confirming the child's (internal) states - such as sensations, emotions, and representations - to support the child's ability to identify and define those entities autonomously. Relying on multidisciplinary evidence - from neuroscientific, developmental, evolutionary, and clinical sources - we suggest that somaticity (H1) has the adaptive function to modulate our tendency to comply and affiliate with a reference group but also (H2) increases the vulnerability to developing Social Anxiety (SA) and Eating Disorders (EDs). We evaluate H1-H2, (1) indicating the evolutionary role of somaticity in modulating our affiliation tendency to optimize the ancestral threat-opportunity balance coming from infectious diseases and (2) showing the deep connection between SA-EDs and the features most closely related to somaticity - interoception and parenting style. Finally, we discuss three relevant implications of H1-H2: (A) Bringing into research focus the adaptive role of our firmware knowledge system versus the hardware (neural substrate) and software (higher cognition) ones. (B) Complementing the well-grounded Objectification and Allocentric Lock Theories, allowing us to integrate multiple levels of explanation on the etiology of psychopathology. (C) Suggesting the design of new psychological treatments. While not aiming to prove H1-H2, our analysis supports them and encourages their direct testing.

What is the relationship between alexithymia and experiential avoidance? A latent analysis using three alexithymia questionnaires

Alexithymia is a clinically relevant personality trait characterized by poor emotional awareness and associated with several psychological and physical health concerns. Individuals with high alexithymia tend to engage in experiential avoidance and this may mediate psychological distress. However, little is known about what specific processes of experiential avoidance are involved, and the nature of the relation between alexithymia, experiential avoidance, and psychological distress remains unclear at a latent construct level. To examine this relationship at the latent construct level, a representative sample of 693 U.S. adults completed alexithymia (TAS-20, BVAQ, PAQ), general distress (DASS-21), multi-dimensional experiential avoidance (MEAQ), and general health (PROMIS-G-10) questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed that alexithymia significantly predicted experiential avoidance (β = 0.966, t = 82.383, p < .01), experiential avoidance significantly predicted general distress (β = 0.810, t = 2.017, p < .05), and experiential avoidance fully mediated the relationship between alexithymia and general distress (βindirect = -0.159, t = -0.398, p > .05). Correlations between alexithymia and experiential avoidance subfactors revealed a strong relationship to the repression and denial subfactor. Experiential avoidance is a promising target for clinical interventions, though longitudinal research is necessary to elucidate how the relationship between alexithymia and experiential avoidance unfolds over time.

The impact of pandemic-related stress on attentional bias and anxiety in alexithymia during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had negative consequences for mental health, yet it is unknown how and to what extent the psychological outcomes of this stressful event are moderated by individual traits. Alexithymia is a risk factor for psychopathology, and thus likely predicted individual differences in resilience or vulnerability to stressful events during the pandemic. This study explored the moderating role of alexithymia in the relationships of pandemic-related stress with anxiety levels and attentional bias. The participants were 103 Taiwanese individuals who completed a survey during the outbreak of the Omicron wave. Additionally, an emotional Stroop task including pandemic-related or neutral stimuli was used to measure attentional bias. Our results demonstrate that pandemic-related stress had a lesser impact on anxiety in individuals with a higher level of alexithymia. Moreover, we found that in individuals with higher exposure to pandemic-related stressors, a higher level of alexithymia indicated less attentional bias toward COVID-19-related information. Thus, it is plausible that individuals with alexithymia tended to avoid pandemic-related information, which could temporarily relieve stressors during the pandemic.

Pathways from Trait Emotional Intelligence to factors of distress in Rosacea: The mediating role of Social Phobia and Self-Esteem

BACKGROUND

Rosacea is a skin disease characterized by facial erythema and inflammatory pustules that may result in emotional distress. Social Phobia and Self-Esteem appear to be linked to the development of higher levels of distress in dermatological conditions, while Trait Emotional Intelligence (Trait EI) has been consistently associated with greater levels of adaptation to one's chronic condition. Hence, it seems extremely relevant to observe the interplay between these dimensions in the context of Rosacea. The goal of the current study is to test the hypothesis that an association between Trait EI and General Distress, in individuals with Rosacea would be mediated by Self-Esteem and Social Phobia.

METHODS

Questionnaires were administered to 224 individuals suffering from Rosacea to assess Trait EI, Social Phobia, Self-Esteem, and General Distress.

RESULTS

Results highlighted that Trait EI was positively related to Self-Esteem and negatively related to Social Phobia and General Distress. In addition, both Self-Esteem and Social Phobia showed a mediating role in the relationship between Trait EI and General Distress.

LIMITATIONS

The main limitations of this work consist in the cross-sectional nature of the data, the small number of participants, also it was not possible to differentiate the participants according to the type of rosacea.

DISCUSSION

These results emphasize how individuals with Rosacea may be vulnerable to internalizing states and how high levels of Trait EI may constitute a protective factor for the onset of distressing states and it would be useful to create programs aimed at fostering Trait EI in Rosacea sufferers.

Effects of DBT-based interventions on alexithymia: a systematic review

While dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) appears effective for some psychiatric conditions commonly associated with alexithymia, it is unclear whether DBT improves difficulties experienced by alexithymic individuals. This review investigated the current evidence on the effectiveness of DBT-based interventions in improving alexithymia. A qualitative synthesis of studies that investigated the efficacy of DBT on self-reported alexithymia was performed, identifying eligible studies using EBSCO/Essentials, Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and PsychINFO databases. Eight studies were identified. Overall, the results were inconclusive due to the heterogeneity of the studies but suggest that DBT-based interventions may be associated with self-reported decreases in alexithymia and increases in the ability to identify emotional states. The literature is limited by significant methodological problems, such as the low number of controlled trials, small samples, and high variability between DBT programs, which increases the risk of bias across study outcomes. More research is needed to reach conclusions regarding the effectiveness of DBT in improving alexithymia. Future studies should conduct randomized controlled trial designs (primarily with active treatment control conditions), greater standardization of DBT-based interventions, and a more in-depth examination of the level of participant involvement in long-term DBT-based interventions may help to understand whether DBT improves alexithymia difficulties.

OXTR polymorphisms and parental bonding modulate alexithymia: The main effects and interaction

Alexithymia is a subclinical personality disorder characterized by difficulties in identifying and expressing one's own emotion. Individual differences in alexithymia are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. However, the interplay between these factors and their influences on alexithymia are unclear. Considering that oxytocin plays important roles in emotion processing and that parental bonding influences the development of alexithymia, we explored the associations between OXTR polymorphisms and alexithymia and examined whether the potential associations are moderated by parental bonding. To this end, we genotyped the OXTR polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs1042778) and scored alexithymia and parental bonding with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument. Results indicated that: (1) the characteristics of alexithymia were negatively associated with parental care and positively with parental overprotection; (2) the OXTR rs53576 was significantly associated with the characteristics of alexithymia, such that the AA genotype was associated with fewer difficulties in identifying feelings and describing feelings than the AG/GG genotypes; and (3) the OXTR rs1042778 interacted with parental care in alexithymia with the vantage sensitivity model: the GG genotype was related to less severity of alexithymia than the AG/GG genotypes only in individuals with higher parental care. Overall, these findings suggest that the OXTR is related to alexithymia and that the quality of parental care influences the relationship. However, considering that the evidence from this study is weak, more research is needed to understand the roles of OXTR in alexithymia.

The role of psychological self‐care on worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 in Iranian pregnant women: A cross‐sectional study

Background and Aims

Although previous studies have reported some psychological factors to prevent the worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 in pregnant women, the role of psychological self‐care is unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the role of psychological self‐care in pregnant women on the depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and worry of vaccination against COVID‐19.

Methods

The present cross‐sectional study was conducted during the peak of the Delta variant of COVID‐19 in Babol city (North, Iran) from August to November 2021. Two hundred pregnant women referring to three prenatal clinics completed five questionnaires including; demographic characteristics, Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, psychological self‐care, brief symptom inventory 18, corona disease anxiety scale, and acceptance of vaccination‐3 inventory.

Results

Pregnant women were in relatively good condition based on psychological self‐care but were not significantly associated with demographic characteristics, such as age, gestational age, educational background, pregnancy, and risk of parity. It was psychological self‐care of pregnant women which negatively predicted the depressive symptoms (β = −0.311, p < 0.001), anxiety symptoms (β = −0.269, p < 0.001), psychological distress (β = −0.269, p < 0.001), and worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 (β = −0.214, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Women's psychological self‐care plays a protective role against the depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, psychological distress, and worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 during pregnancy. Clinicians need to pay more attention to the role of psychological self‐care as an important factor in preventing the symptoms of anxiety and depression during regular pregnancy visits.

How compulsive WeChat use and information overload affect social media fatigue and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic? A stressor-strain-outcome perspective

Social media has been increasingly utilized as an effective avenue for individuals to obtain needed social support and health-related information, especially during the on-going global COVID-19 pandemic. However, surprisingly few empirical studies have concentrated on the detrimental impact of social media adoption on young adults' psychosocial well-being and mental health. Drawing upon previous stressor-strain-outcome theoretical paradigm (SSO), the present research investigates how psychosocial well-being assessments, especially compulsive WeChat use and information overload could trigger social media fatigue and, furthermore, how social media fatigue would ultimately result in emotional stress and social anxiety. This article utilized the cross-sectional design whereby statistical data were collected from 566 young people to test the conceptual research model. This research results demonstrate that perceived information overload through WeChat could significantly trigger social media fatigue among young people. Moreover, perceived information overload could indirectly predict emotional stress and social anxiety through the mediation of social media fatigue. This present work has vital theoretical and practical implications for widespread adoption of newly emerging communication technologies to enhance mental health and well-being among younger generation during recent public health crises.

Alexithymia and Autistic Traits: Associations With Social and Emotional Challenges Among College Students

Background: Alexithymia is a multifaceted personality construct defined by marked difficulties in identifying and describing feelings and in externally oriented thinking. Given its intrinsic role in social-emotional processing, alexithymia is now recognized as a trans-diagnostic trait in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. Research has pinpointed to the co-occurrence of autism with characteristics typical of alexithymic normative samples, such as social-communication difficulties and decreased emotion regulation abilities. Nonetheless, the role of individual facets of alexithymia in predicting challenges in social communication functioning is still understudied. Methods: In total, 275 young adults completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Autism Spectrum Quotient (short form), the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale self-reported questionnaires for assessing alexithymic and autistic traits, social-communication abilities, and emotion regulation difficulties. We used regression models to establish cross-sectional associations between autism, alexithymia, and social-emotional difficulties. Also, we ran a parallel mediation analysis to determine whether the relationship between autistic traits and emotion regulations challenges are mediated by Alexithymia facets. Results: Analysis showed a significant positive association between autistic traits and alexithymic traits and between autistic traits and emotion regulation difficulties while, as expected, autistic traits were negatively correlated with social skills. A significant relationship was found among the participants' levels of alexithymia and their interpersonal skills with two of three alexithymic subscales significantly contributing to the model. Similarly, a significant relationship was found among alexithymia subscales and emotion regulation difficulties with all three alexithymia subscales being statistically significant. Finally, analysis on two mediator models indicated a significant effect of autistic traits on social skills mediated by alexithymic traits as well as a significant indirect effect of autistic traits on emotion regulation difficulties mediated by alexithymic traits. Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence of the influence of different alexithymic facets on the relationship between autistic traits and social-emotional challenges in young adults. Longitudinal studies may explore further alexithymia and its associations with social-emotional difficulties in autism as well as the potential implications of these findings in intervention and treatment programs.