Childhood Abuse and Neglect as a Risk Factor for Alexithymia in Adult Male Substance Dependent Inpatients

The prevalence of childhood abuse and neglect (CAN) histories and their associations with alexithymia among male substance-dependent inpatients were studied. Participants were 159 consecutively admitted male substance dependents (115 alcohol and 44 other drugs). Substance dependence was diagnosed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I), Turkish version. Patients were investigated with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Childhood Abuse and Neglect Questionnaire. Among substance-dependent patients, 57.0% had at least one type of CAN and 45.3% were considered as alexithymic since they had a score greater than 60 on the TAS-20. Rate of unemployment, low educational status, emotional abuse and history of suicide attempts were higher in alexithymic substance dependent patients. Those who had histories of two or more types of childhood abuse or neglect had also higher mean score on TAS-20, particularly on the item "difficulty in identifying feelings-DIF." Also, the number of childhood trauma types was positively correlated with TAS-20 and DIF and the "difficulty in describing feelings-DDF" items of TAS-20. History of childhood emotional abuse was the only determinant for alexithymia. Childhood emotional abuse might be a risk factor for alexithymia among inpatient substance dependents.