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Difficulties in emotional regulation: association with poorer oral health‐related quality of life in the general population
Author(s) -
Mattila A.K.,
Pohjola V.,
Suominen A.L.,
Joukamaa M.,
Lahti S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.2012.00953.x
Subject(s) - alexithymia , quality of life (healthcare) , personality , population , clinical psychology , anxiety , feeling , logistic regression , toronto alexithymia scale , psychology , medicine , oral health , poisson regression , psychiatry , dentistry , environmental health , social psychology , psychotherapist
Mattila AK, Pohjola V, Suominen AL, Joukamaa M, Lahti S. Difficulties in emotional regulation and poorer oral health‐related quality of life in the general population.
Eur J Oral Sci 2012; 120: 224–231. © 2012 Eur J Oral Sci Personality is one of the strongest predictors of subjective well‐being and may, according to a few previous studies, affect how people report oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL). Alexithymia, a personality trait involving difficulties in emotional regulation, is associated with poorer health‐related quality of life in the general population. We studied if alexithymia is also associated with poorer OHRQoL in a general population sample of 4,460 adults. Oral health‐related quality of life was measured using the 14‐item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐14) and alexithymia was measured using the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS‐20). Controlling for clinically assessed dental health, depression, anxiety, and socio‐demographic variables, higher scores on the TAS‐20 as well as on its three dimensions [difficulties in identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties in describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT)] were associated with higher OHIP‐14 composite scores according to Poisson regression analyses. In adjusted logistic regression analyses, the TAS‐20 and two of its dimensions (DIF and DDF) were positively and significantly associated with the seven OHIP‐14 dimensions and the prevalence of those reporting one or more OHIP‐14 items fairly often or very often. The study showed that difficulties in emotional regulation might be reflected in poorer OHRQoL, regardless of the dental health status, depression, anxiety, and socio‐demographic variables.