Alexithymia among Arab mothers of disabled children and its correlation with mood disorders

OBJECTIVE: To study alexithymia among mothers with disabled children in Saudi Arabia, and to explore if alexithymia is associated to their mood difficulties, and certain demographic variables.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective study during January 2011 to April 2012, on 86 mothers (study group) caring for children with physical, mental, or sensory disabilities treated at a major tertiary rehabilitation hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 32 mothers (control group) with healthy children were also included. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to measure the mood symptoms of mothers. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was administered to assess the degree of alexithymia. The demographic data of mothers and children were also collected.

RESULTS: The mean age of children with a disability was 5.6.±3.1, and for healthy children was 6.3±3.7 (range 1-14) years. The mean age of mothers in the study group (n=86) was 33.9±6.1, and in the control group (n=32) was 35.2±7.3 years. Mothers of children with disabilities had a significantly higher degree of alexithymia (p=0.001) and a significantly higher mean score of HADS-anxiety (p=0.042) and HADS-depression (p=0.021). Alexithymia had a significant correlation with mother's depression (p=0.0001) and anxiety (p=0.0001). No significant correlations were found between alexithymia and child's age (p=0.303), duration of disability (p=0.0941), and mother's age (p=0.235).

CONCLUSION: Mothers caring for disabled children have higher features of alexithymia, and this is correlated to their elevated mood problems. Clinical implications are discussed.