The Effect Emotion Regulation Difficulties on Interoceptive Awareness and Alexithymia: An Example of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.

Objective: This study investigated the relationships among interoceptive awareness, difficulties in emotion regulation, and alexithymia in a group of outpatients undergoing consultation liaison psychiatry (CLP).

Methods: Three hundred forty outpatients who applied to the Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Department were included in the study. Thirty-four patients who did not complete the questionnaires for various reasons were excluded from the study. Multidimensional Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-2), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were applied to the participants. Statistics were performed with SPSS 21.0. Mediation analysis examined the relationship between interoceptive awareness, difficulties in emotion regulation, and alexithymia.

Results: It was found that 32% of outpatients who applied to CLP exhibited high alexithymic features. According to the study's results, interoceptive awareness had a significant negative relationship with difficulty in emotion regulation (r=-0.487, p<0.001). According to mediation analysis, difficulty in emotion regulation mediated the relationship between interoceptive awareness and alexithymia (β=-0.313; 95% confidence interval, -0.405 to -0.227; p<0.001).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the mediating effect of emotion regulation difficulties on the relationship between interoceptive awareness and alexithymia in outpatients applying to CLP. The use of interoception-based practices by mental health professionals working with CLP may reduce emotion control and alexithymia symptoms in this patient group.