@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2252-0805    The Horizon of Medical Sciences 2017;23(3):201-206

Background
Alexithymia refers to a defect in identification, processing, and emotional expression. This phenomenon was first reported in patients with a coronary disorder [1].
Previous Studies
… [2-19]. Extensive literature in the healthy population and in patients with schizophrenia considers that impulsivity plays a key role in the risk of aggression and violence [20, 21], suicidal behaviors [22, 23], and the growth and maintenance of drug dependence [24]. In this regard, Anticot et al. [25] suggested that schizophrenic patients exhibit higher impulsivity in inhibiting the response. The study of Zornitsky et al. [26] with respect to excitement, lack of social pleasure and impulsivity in both schizophrenic patient who use opioids and non-addicts suggest a significant level of impulsivity in schizophrenic patients, both in the opium and non-drug users groups compared to the normal people. Dorson et al. [27] and Kalajin et al. [28], also, in their studies showed that schizophrenic patients exhibit higher impulsivity than normal subjects.
Aim(s)
The main purpose of the present study was to compare the aspects of alexithymia and impulsive behaviors in patients with schizophrenia and normal people.
Research type
This is a causal-comparative study.
Research society, place and time
This study was conducted in 2016 on male patients with schizophrenia disorder admitted to Razi Psychiatric Hospital in Tabriz.
Sampling method and number
30 subjects were selected by simple random sampling and were matched to some of the students of Tabriz University who were selected by some demographic variables such as age and marital status. … [29].
Used devices&materials
The research tool was Toronto Alexithymia and Barratt Impulsiveness Scales. Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20): This scale is a 20-question test and three subscales; difficulty in identifying feelings (with 7 items), difficulty in describing feelings (with 5 questions), and externally-oriented feelings (with 8 items) are measured in five-degree Likert scale from the score one (totally disagree) to score 5 (totally agree). A total score is also calculated from the sum of the scores for the three subscales for total alexithymia. In the Persian version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale [30], Cronbach's Alpha Coefficients for the total alexithymia and the three subscales of difficulty in identifying emotions, difficulty in emotional recognition and external thinking orientation were 0.85, 0.82, 0.75, and 0.72 respectively which is a sign of good internal consistency. The concurrent validity of this scale has been studied and confirmed based on the correlation among the subscales of this test and scale of emotional intelligence, psychological well-being and psychological distress [30]. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (11th edition): this questionnaire is a 30-question test by Professor Ernest Barrett [19]. The structure of the questionnaire represents the dimensions of hasty decision, and lack of foresight that evaluate three factors of cognitive impulsivity, motor impulsivity, and lack of openness. Also, a total score for impulsivity is obtained from the sum of the triplets. This scale has been developed in the form of four alternatives and the highest score is 120 [19] The results of the research indicated that there were three factors with the names of: lack of planning, motor impulsivity, and cognitive impulsivity. The convergent validity of this questionnaire was verified by calculating its subscale correlation coefficient and the total validity of the impulsivity questionnaire was analyzed by Cronbach's alpha and retest that were 0.81 and 0.77 respectively[19]. Statistical analysis: Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software. To compare the mean age in the two groups, independent t-test, and to compare the marital status of the two groups, Chi-square test were used; to compare the mean scores of the variables in the two groups, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and LSD post hoc test were used. At first, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normal distribution of data that in some of the variables related to the groups, the assumption of normalization was violated and the normality condition was not used for data analysis with parametric tests. Nevertheless, given that parametric tests are somewhat resistant to some minor violations of normalization, if the skewness is not a large distribution, one can still use parametric tests without worry. In these conditions, the increase in the type-1 error due to the normalization is very small and can be ignored [31]. Also, the homogeneity of variances was determined by the levene test. Wilkes Landa Test also allowed the use of multivariate analysis of variance and showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of both groups of schizophrenic patients and normal individuals in terms of at least one of the variables under study. The multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the LSD post hoc test were used to compare the means of the two groups in the above variables.
Findings by Text
The mean age in schizophrenic patients was 27.30±2.60 and 28.50±2.30 years in the schizophrenic and normal population respectively. In terms of marital status, 14 (46.7%) and 16 (53.3%) were single and married respectively in schizophrenic patients, and 10 (33.3%) and 20 (66.7%) were single and married respectively in normal people group respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographic variables and were completely peer (p>0.05). There was a significant difference between the mean scores of the schizophrenic group and the normal population in the variable of alexithymia and its components including the difficulty in the description of feeling, difficulty in identifying feelings, and externally oriented feeling subscale as well as in the variable of impulsive behaviors and its components include cognitive impulsivity, motor impulsivity and lack of openness and schizophrenic patients had higher scores in all variables than in the normal group (Table 1).
Main comparison to the similar studies
The results showed that schizophrenic patients had higher scores than normal people that this finding is consisted with the findings of Aras et al. [11], Doveau et al. [12], Hiri et al. [15], Caster et al. [13], and Zuckerman [17]. …[38-44].
Suggestions
Future research should investigate the underlying alexithymia and impulsive behaviors along with other suggested causes of pathology of this disorder.
Limitations
The lack of control of some of the intervening variables (such as consumable drugs, severity and duration of the disease) due to the respective nature of the study and implementation on male patients to control the gender effect were among the limitations of this research.
Conclusions
Schizophrenic patients show high levels of alexithymia and impulsive behaviors compared to normal people.
Acknowledgments
All the staff and patients of the Razi Psychiatric Hospital in Tabriz who helped us with this research are sincerely appreciated.
Conflict of interest
Non-declared
Ethical Permissions
In order to observe the ethics of research, first, the consent form for the project in terms of scientific and ethical issues was distributed among the participants at the time of implementation so that the participants would complete it if they wish to participate in the research for the satisfaction. In this form, while referring to the privacy issues of patients, it was stipulated that participants had the right to terminate their collaboration with the researcher at each stage of the research, according to their willingness.
Funding Sources
All research costs have been provided by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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