title: Alexithymia and eating disorders: a critical review of the literature.
abstract: Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties identifying feelings and differentiating between feelings and bodily sensations, difficulties communicating feelings, and a concrete cognitive style focused on the external environment. Individuals with eating disorders have elevated levels of alexithymia, particularly difficulties identifying and describing their feelings. A number of theoretical models have suggested that individuals with eating disorders may find emotions unacceptable and/or frightening and may use their eating disorder symptoms (i.e., restricting food intake, bingeing, and/or purging) as a way to avoid or cope with their feelings. The current critical review synthesizes the literature on alexithymia and eating disorders and examines alexithymia levels across eating disorders (i.e., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorder not otherwise specified), the role of alexithymia in binge eating disorder, and the influence of alexithymia on the development of eating disorders as well as treatment outcome. The clinical implications of the research conducted to date and directions for future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada.
authors.forename: Matilda E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Nowakowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada ; Eating Disorder Program, The Toronto General Hospital, 200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4, Canada.
authors.forename: Traci
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McFarlane
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cassin
keywords: Alexithymia; Eating disorders; Emotion regulation