The Utility of Assessing Alexithymia, in Addition to Coping, in the Context of Posttraumatic Stress

Abstract

The distinction between alexithymia and coping in relation to posttraumatic stress has not been fully explored. The present study examined the extent to which alexithymia explained unique variance in posttraumatic stress, beyond the variance explained by coping, in a sample of trauma-exposed adults (N = 706; M_age = 19.41 years, SD = 1.5; 77.1% female). Then, we explored the effect of race on these associations, comparing participants who identified as Black (n = 275) to those who identified as White (n = 337). Avoidant-emotional coping showed stronger correlations (compared with problem-focused and active-emotional coping) with total alexithymia, difficulty identifying feelings, and difficulty describing feelings. In regression analyses, we found alexithymia explained unique variance in posttraumatic stress severity beyond the effect of coping. Results did not differ by racial identity. These findings suggest that despite some overlap between alexithymia and coping, each shows unique relations with posttraumatic stress.