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Alexithymia and autistic traits as possible predictors for traits related to depression, anxiety, and stress: A multivariate statistical approach
Author(s) -
Fietz Julia,
Valencia Noel,
Silani Giorgia
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12961
Subject(s) - alexithymia , anxiety , psychology , clinical psychology , multivariate statistics , multivariate analysis , population , autistic traits , depression (economics) , autism , psychiatry , medicine , autism spectrum disorder , statistics , mathematics , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Rationale, aims, and objectives Our study focused on the general population and explored the relationships between autistic traits and alexithymia, on the one hand, and traits related to depression, anxiety, and stress, on the other, using a multivariate statistical approach. In previous research, autistic traits and alexithymia have been linked to these traits both in clinical populations and in the general population. We also investigated a possible multiplicative effect of autistic traits and alexithymia and attempted to determine which of these two variables is the better predictor for health outcomes. Methods An online survey was conducted, and 302 participants were included in the statistical analysis. A structural equation modelling approach was chosen, and a model based on prior findings was designed and tested by using IBM SPSS AMOS 21. Results The results showed significant, medium‐sized effects of alexithymia on depression, anxiety, and stress. Additionally, a medium‐sized significant effect of autistic traits on depression, a small significant effect on stress, and a small nonsignificant effect on anxiety were found. The interaction term of alexithymia and autistic traits had no significant effects on any of the endogenous variables. Conclusions Alexithymia can be considered the better predictor for anxiety in this sample, and it is unlikely that a multiplicative effect of alexithymia and autistic traits exists. The use of multivariate statistical methods provided additional information for understanding the investigated constructs and their interdependence.