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Social Situation of Expectant Mothers and Alexithymia 31 Years Later in Their Offspring: A Prospective Study

From the Department of Social Psychiatry (M.J.), Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; Department of Psychiatry (M.J.) Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland; Department of Psychiatry (P.K., J.V., K.L., J.T.K.), Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Department of Public Health Science and General Practice (J.J., M.R.J.), University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (M.R.J.), Imperial College School of Medicine London, United Kingdom.

Address reprint requests to: Matti Joukamaa, PhD, Professor of Social Psychiatry, University of Tampere, Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, FIN-33014 Tampere University, Finland. Email: matti.joukamaa{at}uta.fi

OBJECTIVE: We studied the association between alexithymia in adulthood and social situation of the child’s family at the time of the child’s birth.

METHODS: The study forms part of the prospective Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Project. The original material consisted of all 12,058 live-born children in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu in Finland with an expected delivery date during 1966. The material represents 96% of all births in the region. In 1997 a 31-year follow-up study was made on part of the initial sample. The 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was given to 5983 participants of the field study. Of them, 85% returned the questionnaire properly completed. Factors indicative of the social situation of the child’s family were already gathered during pregnancy and the time of birth from the mothers, thus eliminating recall bias.

RESULTS: Alexithymia was more common in subjects from rural than urban dwelling areas. Unwanted children or subjects born into families with many children also exhibited an association with alexithymia in adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS: Maternal social situation and environment predict alexithymia in the offspring.

Key Words: alexithymia, • TAS-20, • epidemiological study, • childhood, • social situation, • cohort study.

Abbreviations: OR = odds ratio;; TAS-20 = 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale;; 95% CI = 95% confidence interval.