Psychosomatics 43:55-60, February 2002

Relationship Between Somatosensory Amplification and Alexithymia in a Japanese Psychosomatic Clinic

Mutsuhiro Nakao, M.D., Arthur J. Barsky, M.D., Hiroaki Kumano, M.D. and Tomifusa Kuboki, M.D.

From the Teikyo University Center for Evidence-Based Medicine and Department of Hygiene and Public Health, School of Medicine, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan; the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; and the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Address reprint requests to Dr. Nakao, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, School of Medicine, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-8605, Japan. E-mail: aaaa-tky@umin.ac.jp.

To examine the relationship between somatosensory amplification and three factors of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking), 48 outpatients attending a Japanese psychosomatic clinic and 33 comparative outpatients completed the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and other self-rating questionnaires. The scores on the SSAS and the first and second TAS-20 factors were higher (all P<0.001) in the psychosomatic group than in the comparison group. The SSAS was positively associated (both P<0.01) with these two TAS-20 factors, controlling for the effects of age, sex, group, and POMS tension-anxiety and depression. Somatosensory amplification appears to be associated with difficulties identifying and describing feelings, not externally oriented thinking, in Japanese patients.

Key Words: Alexithymia, Mood States, Psychosocial Stress