title: Adolescent dissociation and alexithymia are distinctive but overlapping phenomena.
abstract: Findings on the association between dissociation and alexithymia in adult populations are inconsistent. Dissociation has also been related to other types of psychopathology. Few studies have been published on these connections among adolescents. We examined the association between Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) scores and those for the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR), as well as subscales of the TAS and the YSR, in a sample of Finnish adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (n=4019). Factor analysis suggested that dissociation can be considered distinctive from other psychopathology. A-DES scores, however, associated strongly with several other scales and subscales measuring psychiatric symptoms. In logistic regression models the strongest associations were observable between the A-DES and TAS subscale 'difficulty identifying feelings' (DIF) and the YSR subscale 'thought problems'. Thus, dissociation and alexithymia can be considered distinctive but overlapping phenomena.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, P.O. Box 1777, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland. tommi_tolmunen@kuh.fi
authors.forename: Tommi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tolmunen
authors.forename: Kirsi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honkalampi
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hintikka
authors.forename: Marja-Liisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rissanen
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maaranen
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kylmä
authors.forename: Eila
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laukkanen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept