title: The Connection between Alexithymia and Somatic Morbidity in a Population of Combat Veterans with Chronic PTSD.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the connection between alexithymia and somatic illness, or, somatization, in veterans suffering from chronic combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Croatian combat veterans (N=127) were studied at the Department of Psychology, Zagreb Clinical Hospital Center. The diagnosis of PTSD was confirmed and verified according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). A version of the Mississippi Scale for Combat Related PTSD (M-PTSD) standardized for the Croatian population was used to assess the severity of PTSD. In addition to the clinical interview, the existence of alexithymia was confirmed by the score on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TA S-20).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A statistically significant association was found between the total number of diagnosed physical illnesses and the scores on three subscales of an alexithymia questionnaire, the TA S-20, with a 1% risk (p<0.01, 0.487; 0.450; 0.335). Regression analysis confirmed the most statistically significant predictive value of the first item of the TA S-20, which refers to difficulty in identifying feelings (=0.408, p=0.019). The total score on the M-PTSD scale correlated significantly to the subscales for alexithymia. There was a statistically significant negative correlation of the total score on the M-PTSD scale with social support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The total scores obtained in this study, particularly those related to alexithymia, indicate the importance of this construct in the etiopathogenesis of somatic morbidity in the study population and confirm that as in other countries the TA S-20 is a useful instrument in Croatia for the assessment of this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Zagreb Clinical Hospital Center , Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Zorana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kusevic
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Civljak
authors.forename: Tea Vukusic
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Rukavina
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Babic
authors.forename: Mladen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loncar
authors.forename: Bjanka Vuksan
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Cusa
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gregurek
keywords: Croatia; PTSD; alexithymia; psychophysiological disorder; somatization disorder