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Alexithymia and Life Satisfaction in Primary Healthcare Patients

Received April 19, 2006; revised October 10, 2006; accepted October 16, 2006. From the Tampere School of Public Health, Univ. of Tampere; the Dept. of Psychiatry, Tampere Univ. Hospital; the Medical School, Univ. of Tampere; the Tampere Univ. Hospital Research Unit, Tampere, Finland; and the Dept. of Psychiatry, Univ. of Turku; the Psychiatric Clinic, Turku Univ. Central Hospital; and the Turku Psychiatric Clinic, Turku, Finland. Send correspondence and reprint requests to Aino Mattila, M.D., Tampere School of Public Health, FIN-33014. e-mail: aino.mattila{at}uta.fi
© 2007 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine

The relationship between life satisfaction and alexithymia was studied in a sample of 229 patients as a part of a naturalistic follow-up study of depression in Finnish primary health care. The measures were the abbreviated Life Satisfaction Scale and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Depression was assessed by telephone with the short form of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Of all subjects, 19.2% were alexithymic, and 9.2% were depressed. Alexithymia was negatively associated with life satisfaction even when depression and other confounding factors were controlled for. Alexithymia is a risk factor for life dissatisfaction in primary-care patients.

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