Comparative study of alexithymia in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, non-psychotic disorders and normal people

In the present study attempt has been made to investigate the extent of alexithymia in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, non-psychotic disorders and normal people. The research sample consisted of 60 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 60 non-psychotic disorders from inpatients and outpatients of Mostafa Khomeini and Hazrat Rasoul hospitals, and 140 students from Tehran university (results of Leven test indicated the homogeneity of variance among three groups). Using Torento Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) they were compared. Results showed that alexithymia had significant difference in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and normal people; and non-psychotic disorders and normal people, but differences weren't significant between patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and non-psychotic disorders. The difficulty in describing feelings, difficulty in identifying feelings and externally-oriented thinking were higher in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders than other groups. In all groups, males had more problems in describing feelings and externally-oriented thinking. These results suggest that high level of alexithymia could contribute to a greater vulnerability for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and it could set males at high risk for these disorders. thus, it is essential to contrive a special treatment to decrease alexithymia in these patients. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.