The impact of parental attitudes on alexithymia in children with chronic diseases

INTRODUCTION: This paper investigated the effect of parental attitudes on alexithymia in children with chronic diseases.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the pediatric outpatient clinics of a state hospital in the southern and central regions of Turkey. The study population consisted of 256 children with chronic diseases. Data were collected using a personal information form, the parental attitudes scale (PAS), and the alexithymia questionnaire for children (AQC). The data were analyzed using a t-test, analysis of variance, and logistic regression. All stages of the study adhered to ethical principles.
RESULTS: Participants had a mean AQC score of 20.07±5.83. They had a mean PAS “strictness/supervision,” “acceptance/involvement,” and “psychological autonomy” subscale score of 30.75±2.55, 28.03±3.89, and 21.13±4.09, respectively. The PAS “acceptance/involvement” subscale score was negatively correlated with the AQC total score and “difficulty identifying feelings” and “difficulty describing feelings” subscale scores (p<0.05). The regression analysis showed that the independent variables explained 20.1% of the dependent variable.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In the study, it was determined that the children’s alexithymia level was above the medium level. It was determined that the difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and alexithymia decreased with the increase in acceptance/ involvement, which indicates the democratic attitude commonly adopted by parents.