title: A behavioral-genetic study of alexithymia and its relationships with trait emotional intelligence.
abstract: The present study is the first to examine relationships between alexithymia and trait emotional intelligence (trait El or trait emotional self-efficacy) at the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental levels. The study was also conducted to resolve inconsistencies in previous twin studies that have provided estimates of the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in alexithymia. Participants were 216 monozygotic and 45 dizygotic same-sex twin pairs who completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. In a pilot study, a sub-sample of 118 MZ and 27 DZ pairs also completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. Results demonstrated that a combination of genetic and non-shared environmental influences contribute to individual differences in alexithymia. As expected, alexithymia and trait El were negatively correlated at the phenotypic level. Bivariate behavioral genetic analyses showed that that all but one of these correlations was primarily attributable to correlated genetic factors and secondarily to correlated non-shared environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Holly M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Baughman
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Julie Aitken
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schermer
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veselka
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Petrides
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Vernon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D005824:Genetics, Behavioral; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult