Alexithymic Traits and Hair Cortisol Concentrations in Pregnant Women

Abstract

<div>Introduction</div><div>Alexithymia, a personality construct characterized by difficulties in identifying and expressing emotions, and an externally oriented thinking style, has been associated with a number of stress-related disorders, and physiological markers of stress. We examined the relationships of alexithymia and hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), a measure of long-term cortisol levels, in pregnant women.</div><div><br /></div><div>Methods</div><div>Participants were 130 women from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort study. Alexithymia was measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Analysis of covariance and regression analyses were used to assess the associations between alexithymia and HCC. Educational level, current depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI) were applied as covariates.</div><div><br /></div><div>Results</div><div>In the adjusted analyses, individuals with moderate to high alexithymic traits had significantly higher HCC (F = 5.11, partial eta(2) = 0.040 , p = 0.026) compared to non-alexithymics. Regression analyses in the whole sample revealed that, of the individual dimensions of alexithymia, Difficulty Identifying Feelings (DIF) was associated with HCC (beta = 0.187, t = 2.064, p = 0.041).</div><div><br /></div><div>Conclusions</div><div>Alexithymia, and especially its dimension DIF, were associated with higher HCC and, therefore, may be linked to increased chronic physiological stress. Implications for pregnancy outcomes and infant development are discussed.</div>