Attachment and alexithymia are related, but mind-mindedness does not mediate this relationship

• Authors: Marta Szpak , Marta Białecka-Pikul
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The main aim of the study was to check: (a) attachment-related differences in alexithymia and (b) the mediating role of mind-mindedness in attachment-alexithymia relationship. Method: Attachment (PAM; Berry et al., 2007), alexithymia (TAS-20; Bagby, Taylor, & Parker, 1994) and mind-mindedness (“describe your friend” method; Meins et al, 2008) were measured in the sample of 128 Polish undergraduates. Results: Positive associations were seen between attachment anxiety and overall alexithymia scores and difficulty identifying emotions. Attachment avoidance was positively associated with overall alexithymia score, difficulty describing feelings and externally oriented thinking. Mind-mindedness was not related to neither attachment or alexithymia. Conclusion: There are attachment-related differences in alexithymia, but mind-mindedness seems not to mediate attachment-alexithymia relationship.

Keywords

EN

alexithymia; attachment; mind-mindedness; mentalizing

• Publisher: Committee for Psychological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Polish Psychological Bulletin
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 217-222

Dates

published

2015-06-01

online

2015-05-22

Contributors

author

Marta Szpak

• Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Ingardena 6, 30-060 Cracow

author

Marta Białecka-Pikul

• Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/ppb-2015-0029