Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Oct 28:7:1690.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01690. eCollection 2016.

Describe Your Feelings: Body Illusion Related to Alexithymia in Adolescence

Affiliations

Describe Your Feelings: Body Illusion Related to Alexithymia in Adolescence

Eleana Georgiou et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: Having access to bodily signals is known to be crucial for differentiating the self from others and coping with negative feelings. The interplay between bodily and emotional processes develops in adolescence, where vulnerability is high, as negative affect states often occur, that could hamper the integration of bodily input into the self. Aim of the present study in healthy adolescents was to examine, whether a disturbed emotional awareness, described by the alexithymic construct, could trigger a higher malleability in the sense of body-ownership. Methods: Fifty-four healthy adolescents aged between 12 to 17 years participated in this study. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Screening psychischer Störungen im Jugendalter were used to assess emotional distress and conduct problems. Alexithymia was assessed by the TAS-20. The rubber hand illusion was implemented for examining the malleability of body-ownership. Results: A higher body illusion was found to be connected with "difficulties in describing feelings". Moreover, a higher degree of self-reported conduct and emotional problems as assessed by the SDQ were associated with a more pronounced body illusion. Further findings revealed an association between emotional distress and the emotional alexithymia subscales "difficulties in identifying feelings" and "difficulties in describing feelings". Conclusion: Our findings emphasize a close link between the sense of body-ownership and emotional awareness as assessed by emotional facets of the alexithymic trait. We suggest that in adolescents with higher malleability of body-ownership, a vicious circle might occur where affect and integration of different proprioceptive signals regarding the body become more entangled.

Keywords: adolescents; alexithymia; body illusion; emotions; rubber hand.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Subjective ratings of ownership and location after synchronous and asynchronous stimulation as assessed by the RHI Questionnaire; p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Scatterplot depicting the interrelation between TAS 2 and proprioceptive drift; Drift, proprioceptive drift in the synchronous condition; TAS 2, “difficulties in describing feelings”. There is a statistically significant positive correlation between drift and TAS 2 with a p-value of 0.01; p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001; r = Pearson r correlation coefficient.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Scatterplot portraying the interaction between TAS 2 and Ownership. Ownership, subjective rating of ownership in the synchronous condition. TAS 2, “difficulties in describing feelings”. There is a statistically significant positive correlation between ownership and TAS 2 with a p-value of 0.05; p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001; r = Pearson r correlation coefficient.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bagby R. M., Parker J. D. A., Taylor G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia scale–I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. J. Psychosom. Res. 38 23–32. - PubMed
    1. Benjet C., Borges G., Méndez E., Albor Y., Casanova L., Orozco R., et al. (2015). Eight-year incidence of psychiatric disorders and service use from adolescence to early adulthood: longitudinal follow-up of the Mexican adolescent mental health survey. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 25 163–173. 10.1007/s00787-015-0721-5 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berthoz S., Artiges E., Van de Moortele P. F., Poline J. B., Rouquette S., Consoli S. M., et al. (2002). Effect of impaired recognition and expression of emotions on frontocingulate cortices: an fMRI study of men with alexithymia. Am. J. Psychiatry 159 961–967. 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.6.961 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berthoz S., Perdereau F., Godart N., Corcos M., Haviland M. G. (2007). Observer- and self-rated alexithymia in eating disorder patients: levels and correspondence among three measures. J. Psychosom. Res. 62 341–347. 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.10.008 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Botvinick M., Cohen J. (1998). Rubber hands /‘feel/’ touch that eyes see. Nature 391:756 10.1038/35784 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources