title: Alexithymia in obsessive-compulsive disorder - results from a family study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have suggested an association between alexithymia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it is unclear to which extent alexithymic traits in OCD patients reflect familial deficits in cognitively processing and communicating feelings that are also present in their first-degree relatives. This study investigates the hypotheses of an elevated level of alexithymia in subjects with OCD and their first-degree relatives compared to controls and their first-degree relatives.
  
  
  METHODS
  82 cases with OCD and 169 first-degree relatives were compared to 76 controls and 144 first-degree relatives from a German family study on OCD (GENOS). All subjects completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Direct or family informant interviews were carried out with the German version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia - lifetime version for anxiety disorders (DSM-IV).
  
  
  RESULTS
  OCD was associated with significantly higher scores of alexithymia. However, first-degree relatives of OCD cases and of controls did not differ in TAS-20 scores. In linear regression analyses, the TAS-20 total score showed significant intrafamilial associations within the families of control subjects but not within families of OCD cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OCD is a severe mental disorder that is associated independently from other current comorbid axis I disorders with deficits in identifying and expressing feelings. However, alexithymia does not represent a familial risk factor for OCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. grabeh@uni-greifswald.de
authors.forename: Hans Joergen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Grabe
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruhrmann
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ettelt
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buhtz
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hochrein
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schulze-Rauschenbach
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reck
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pukrop
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klosterkotter
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falkai
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Harald J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Freyberger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology