Alexithymia is associated with aggressive tendencies following traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT

Objective: Aggressive behavior is a frequent legacy of traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study explores the question of how alexithymia, which is associated with deficits in social cognition and empathy, may predispose individuals to aggressive tendencies after head trauma.

Method: A total of 47 individuals referred for routine neuropsychological assessment and advice on the management of long-term neuropsychological sequelae after TBI and 72 demographically matched controls completed the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ; self and proxy).

Results: The incidence of alexithymia and aggressive tendencies was significantly higher in the group with TBI. After controlling for covariates, alexithymia explained an additional 29% of variance in BPAQ total scores in the group with TBI and 11.1% in the control group. Of the three TAS-20 sub-scales, ‘difficulty describing feelings’ emerged as a consistent unique predictor of aggression scores.

Conclusions: Higher levels of alexithymia are associated with greater aggressive tendencies post-TBI. The findings offer important theoretical and empirical insights into the prediction of aggression after TBI.

KEYWORDS:

• Alexithymia
• emotional disturbances
• behavior
• prefrontal cortex
• brain injuries
• TBI

Declaration of interest

The information in this manuscript and the manuscript itself is new and original and is not currently under review by any other publication, and has never been published either electronically or in print. The authors have no financial relationships or conflict of interest to disclose. There are no financial sources of support to declare.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claire Williams

Dr Claire Williams: BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Swansea University. She has a strong track record of applied and translational research, leadership experience of delivering research projects with clinical impact, and experience of developing specialist neurobehavioural assessment tools for use in brain injury. She has a particular interest in emotion deficit disorders after traumatic brain injury, focussing predominantly on alexithymia, nonverbal communication, and emotional empathy. Other principal research interests include neurobehavioural disability and social handicap, dysregulated behaviours, and outcome measurement.