Alexithymia as a mechanistic bridge: validating the mediating role of emotion processing deficits between childhood trauma and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Abstract

This pioneering study published in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience elucidates the mediating role of alexithymia-specifically difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and externally oriented thinking (EOT)-in the pathway linking childhood trauma (CT) to negative symptoms (NS) in chronic schizophrenia (β < sub > DIF = 0.04, 95% CI [0.002, 0.085]; β < sub > EOT = 0.03, 95% CI [0.002, 0.060]). Using Hayes' PROCESS macro with bootstrapping in 94 patients, the authors establish alexithymia as a mechanistically actionable target for trauma-informed interventions. Methodological refinements are proposed to address antipsychotic class effects on emotion processing, neurobiological mediators (e.g., amygdala volume), and positive symptom confounding. This work redefines therapeutic paradigms for trauma-associated schizophrenia, underscoring the journal's leadership in transformative clinical neuroscience.