@article{oai:nagoya.repo.nii.ac.jp:00019201,
 author = {反中, 亜弓 and TANNAKA, Ayumi},
 journal = {名古屋大学大学院教育発達科学研究科紀要. 心理発達科学},
 month = {Dec},
 note = {The term “alexithymia”, introduced by Sifneos (1973), has been associated with the emotional deficits experienced by patients with psychosomatic disorders. Alexithymia was originally defined in terms of four facets: difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty discriminating between emotions and physical sensations, difficulty describing feelings and an impoverished imagination or fantasy life, and an externally oriented cognitive style. Many studies of alexithymia have been conducted, but most have involved observations of adults or patients with psychosomatic disorders. However, few studies regarding alexithymia in children and adolescents or the developmental aspects of alexithymia have been performed. This study reviewed the findings of previous studies regarding alexithymic tendencies in adolescents and suggests directions for future research aimed at measuring alexithymia. The most widely used self-report questionnaire measuring alexithymia in adults is the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994). Previous studies have indicated that this instrument consists of three factors (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking) in both adolescents and adults. Although the reliability of the factor involving externally oriented thinking appears to be weak, those related to difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings have demonstrated sufficient reliability in many countries. Few previous studies have found developmental changes in the alexithymic tendencies of adolescents (e.g., Parker et al., 2010). Figure 1 presents the results of previous studies of the developmental changes in alexithymia among adolescents. According to four previous studies, the Alexithymia Scale scores of adolescents were higher than those of adults. Developmental changes in these scores differed among countries. In addition, the previous study in Japan focused on a single junior high school student. Thus, further studies of the developmental aspects of alexithymia among adolescents are required. Several previous studies have examined social maladjustment in adolescents with alexithymic tendencies. In particular, difficulty identifying and describing feelings may be important issues when considering the psychological problems of adolescents.},
 pages = {155--163},
 title = {青年期のアレキシサイミア研究の動向と展望},
 volume = {61},
 year = {2014}
}