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ABSTRACT
There is evidence that alexithymia is related to alcohol problems. However, no study has been conducted to show whether emotion regulation (ER) subscales such as reappraisal and suppression mediate the relationship between alexithymia and craving. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ER subscales (i.e., reappraisal and suppression) as mediators on the relationships between alexithymia and subscales of craving (i.e., obsessive and compulsive subscales). A total of 205 alcoholic outpatients completed the Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (FTAS-20), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Results revealed that alexithymia indirectly influenced obsessive and compulsive cravings through both paths of ER decreased reappraisal and increased suppression subscales. Also, the relations of alexithymia to obsessive and compulsive cravings through the mediation pathway of decreased reappraisal were stronger than the path of suppression. It was concluded that low reappraisal and high suppression seem to be important in predicting obsessive and compulsive cravings for alcoholics with alexithymia. This suggests that the efforts based on increasing reappraisal and decreasing suppression may be important in reducing craving in alcoholic patients.
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Notes on contributors
Vahid Khosravani
The first author designed the study and wrote the manuscript. All authors were involved in the statistical analyses and data collection of the study. All authors contributed and have approved the final manuscript.
Farangis Sharifi Bastan
The first author designed the study and wrote the manuscript. All authors were involved in the statistical analyses and data collection of the study. All authors contributed and have approved the final manuscript.
Behzad Avatefi
The first author designed the study and wrote the manuscript. All authors were involved in the statistical analyses and data collection of the study. All authors contributed and have approved the final manuscript.
Fatemeh Mofidi
The first author designed the study and wrote the manuscript. All authors were involved in the statistical analyses and data collection of the study. All authors contributed and have approved the final manuscript.