The relationship between alexithymia, stress, and coping in cancer patients

The current study sought to explore the affective sequelae of having a life-threatening illness. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Taylor, Ryan, & Bagby, 1985) was used to measure the experience and expression of affect. The Impact of Events Scale (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979) was used to measure stress related to the event of having cancer. Coping was measured by using the 'fighting spirit' subscale of the Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Watson, Greer, & Bliss, 1989).

Hypotheses about the potential sequelae of having cancer were tested. Findings suggest that patients with advanced cancer do indeed experience a high degree of stress consistent with other populations seeking treatment for stress related syndromes. Other findings suggest that anxiety and depression are significantly related to experienced stress.

The construct of alexithymia was examined and found to be related to stress as well as anxiety. Alexithymia was not significantly related to depression in this study, a finding which differs from previous studies. The variable which best predicts alexithymia was noted to be vigor, which was inversely related to the construct of alexithymia. Coping as measured by 'fighting spirit' was not found to be significantly related to alexithymia.