title: Relationship between somatosensory amplification and alexithymia in a Japanese psychosomatic clinic.
abstract: To examine the relationship between somatosensory amplification and three factors of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking), 48 outpatients attending a Japanese psychosomatic clinic and 33 comparative outpatients completed the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and other self-rating questionnaires. The scores on the SSAS and the first and second TAS-20 factors were higher (all P<0.001) in the psychosomatic group than in the comparison group. The SSAS was positively associated (both P<0.01) with these two TAS-20 factors, controlling for the effects of age, sex, group, and POMS tension-anxiety and depression. Somatosensory amplification appears to be associated with difficulties identifying and describing feelings, not externally oriented thinking, in Japanese patients.
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, School of Medicine, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-8605, Japan. aaaa-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Mutsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Arthur J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Barsky
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumano
authors.forename: Tomifusa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuboki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011611:Psychosomatic Medicine; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D020886:Somatosensory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*