Childhood traumatic events, alexithymia and perceived stress in patients with rheumatoid arthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, causing joint-swelling and pain. International literature highlights that patients with RA are more likely to report high levels of alexithymia, adverse childhood events (ACEs) and stress, but studies investigating the association between these dimensions are lacking. The general aim of the present study is to investigate the association between alexithymia, ACEs, and stress in RA patients and to highlight possible predictors of greater perceived stress. One hundred and thirty-seven female patients with RA (mean age = 50.74; SD = 10.01) participated in an online survey between April and May 2021. Participants completed a questionnaire for the collection of sociodemographic and clinical information, the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Adverse Childhood Events questionnaire and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale. The correlational analysis highlighted several significant associations between the dimensions evaluated. Regression analyses showed that alexithymia, ACEs and the perceived health status have a predictive effect on the perceived stress of RA patients. More specifically, the role of difficulty in identifying feelings, and the physical and emotional neglect, has been highlighted. ACEs and high levels of alexithymia are common in RA clinical populations and seem to affect the wellbeing of these patients. The use of a biopsychosocial approach to RA treatment appears essential in achieving a better quality of life and illness control in this specific clinical population.

KEYWORDS:

• Childhood traumatic events
• Aces
• alexithymia
• stress
• rheumatoid arthritis
• general health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [[email protected]], upon reasonable request..

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology of the University of Roma ‘Sapienza’ (protocol n. 0000311–22/03/2021).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors