An Overview of Referential Process Linguistic Measures in the Italian Language: Common Elements and Innovative Results.

Abstract

Language characteristics reflect the ability to connect emotions to words and thoughts, thus transforming non-verbal material into material that can be communicated to others, allowing people to share their emotional experience with others and to regulate their own emotions. In this review, we present the results from the last decade by the three main university research groups (Universities of Rome, Bergamo, and Padua) on Italian computerized linguistic measures of the Referential Process (RP). We discuss 22 studies across several clinical and non-clinical settings and populations, exploring the application of RP measures to heterogeneous materials, such as transcripts of validated clinical instruments, expressive writings, autobiographical memories, dreams, and the therapists' clinical notes. We also consider the associations between linguistic measures and psychological constructs. The results show the existence of definite linguistic characteristics in the different samples examined. Specifically, a higher use of sensory-somatic words appears to be associated with depressive states, while a greater use of abstract words is associated with defensive dimensions. Additionally, RP measures seem to capture the affective dysregulation features shown by individuals with higher alexithymia scores, indicating reduced symbolizing and affective capabilities. In general, these findings confirm a strong association between language and bodily functioning, highlighting the connection between physical arousal, emotion, thoughts, and health/pathology dimensions.