title: [Relationships between alexithymia, depression and interpersonal dependency in addictive subjects].
abstract: In the scientific literature, the term of addiction is currently used to describe a whole range of phenomena characterized by an irresistible urge to engage in a series of behaviors carried out in a repetitive and persistent manner despite accruing adverse somatic, psychological and social consequences for the individual. It has been suggested that subjects presenting such behaviors would share specific features of personality which support the appearance or are associated with these addictive behaviors. Dimensions such as alexithymia and depression have been particularly well investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the hypothesis of a specific psychopathological model relating alexithymia and depression in different addictive disorders such as alcoholism, drug addiction or eating disorders. Alexithymic and depressive dimensions were explored and analyzed through the statistical tool of path analysis in a large clinical sample of addicted patients and controls. The results of this statistical method, which tests unidirectional causal relationships between a certain number of observed variables, showed a good adjustment between the observed data and the ideal model, and support the hypothesis that a depressive dimension can facilitate the development of dependence in vulnerable alexithymic subjects. These results can have clinical implications in the treatment of addictive disorders.
authors.affiliation: Service de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent, CHU Bicêtre, Fondation Vallée, 7, rue Bensérade, 94257 Gentilly. mariosperanza@wandoo.fr
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Speranza
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stéphan
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corcos
authors.forename: Gwenolé
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loas
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Taieb
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guilbaud
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perez-Diaz
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Venisse
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bizouard
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Halfon
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jeammet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000209:etiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland