Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives

Alexithymia refers to difficulties identifying and describing feelings. It is suspected of being a risk factor for problematic drinking, an idea examined by this study. In 178 women and 84 men alexithymia was associated with male gender, coping motives for drinking and sensitivity to punishment. Ind...

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Main Authors: Lyvers, M., Hasking, Penelope, Albrecht, B., Thorberg, F.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34352
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author Lyvers, M.
Hasking, Penelope
Albrecht, B.
Thorberg, F.
author_facet Lyvers, M.
Hasking, Penelope
Albrecht, B.
Thorberg, F.
author_sort Lyvers, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Alexithymia refers to difficulties identifying and describing feelings. It is suspected of being a risk factor for problematic drinking, an idea examined by this study. In 178 women and 84 men alexithymia was associated with male gender, coping motives for drinking and sensitivity to punishment. Individuals with alexithymia reported stronger coping motives and sensitivity to punishment compared to those with borderline or no alexithymia. Path analysis indicated that the relationship between the alexithymia dimension difficulties identifying feelings and coping motives was mediated by sensitivity to punishment, and the relationship between sensitivity to punishment and risky drinking was mediated by coping motives. These results suggest that alcohol may be used by individuals with alexithymia to help them cope with anxiety or other negative affect.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2012
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-343522017-09-13T15:13:28Z Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives Lyvers, M. Hasking, Penelope Albrecht, B. Thorberg, F. Alexithymia drinking motives anxiety alcohol alcoholism Alexithymia refers to difficulties identifying and describing feelings. It is suspected of being a risk factor for problematic drinking, an idea examined by this study. In 178 women and 84 men alexithymia was associated with male gender, coping motives for drinking and sensitivity to punishment. Individuals with alexithymia reported stronger coping motives and sensitivity to punishment compared to those with borderline or no alexithymia. Path analysis indicated that the relationship between the alexithymia dimension difficulties identifying feelings and coping motives was mediated by sensitivity to punishment, and the relationship between sensitivity to punishment and risky drinking was mediated by coping motives. These results suggest that alcohol may be used by individuals with alexithymia to help them cope with anxiety or other negative affect. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34352 10.3109/16066359.2011.636494 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Alexithymia
drinking motives
anxiety
alcohol
alcoholism
Lyvers, M.
Hasking, Penelope
Albrecht, B.
Thorberg, F.
Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
title Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
title_full Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
title_fullStr Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
title_full_unstemmed Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
title_short Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
title_sort alexithymia and alcohol: the roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives
topic Alexithymia
drinking motives
anxiety
alcohol
alcoholism
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34352