title: The stability of alexithymia during work in a high-stress environment: a prospective study of Swedish peacekeepers serving in Kosovo.
abstract: We applied a prospective design to reinvestigate the issue whether the sub-domains of alexithymia could be considered stable traits or distress-related states. Assessments of alexithymia and subjective distress were conducted before deployment to Kosovo in a sample of male peacekeepers. A second assessment was conducted approximately six months later during the final phase of service. The results showed evidence of moderate to high relative stability in all alexithymic sub-domains. It was also found that a relative change in subjective distress predicted a relative change in difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings but not in externally oriented thinking. We suggest therefore that the alexithymic sub-domains could be considered relatively stable traits but that the level of difficulty identifying and describing feeling varies with the level of subjective distress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Magnus_R.Larsson@psychology.lu.se
authors.forename: Magnus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bäckström
authors.forename: Per-Olof
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Lars-Gunnar
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Lundh
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden; D015022:Yugoslavia