Alexithymic traits are closely related to impulsivity and cognitive and empathic dysfunctions in intimate partner violence perpetrators: New targets for intervention

Abstract

Clinical psychologists are interested in studying factors that interfere with the behavioral regulation of perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW), as well as the way these factors affect the risk of future recidivism after interventions that are designed for them are completed. Although several variables have been proposed as risk factors for IPVAW, the role of alexithymia and its relationships with other cognitive and empathic variables in IPVAW perpetrators has been neglected. Thus, the main aim of this study was to compare the alexithymic and cognitive and empathic traits in a carefully selected sample of IPVAW perpetrators (n = 47; mean age = 39) with a control group matched on sociodemographic characteristics (n = 41; mean age = 42). Moreover, we also aimed to study whether alexithymic traits are related to cognitive and empathic alterations in IPVAW perpetrators. Compared to controls, IPVAW perpetrators had higher alexithymic and self-reported impulsivity traits and worse attention and executive functioning (e.g., verbal fluency and cognitive flexibility) performance than controls. Moreover, they also presented greater personal distress, compared to controls. Notably, we observed that higher alexithymia was associated with high self-reported impulsivity, worse cognitive and empathic performance in both groups. Our study identifies different cognitive targets for specific neuropsychological rehabilitation interventions designed to prevent violence recidivism in the long term through their effects on emotional information processing and behavioral regulation.

Keywords:

• Emotional processing
• empathy
• impulsivity
• intimate partner violence
• neuropsychology

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by a 2018 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators, BBVA Foundation. The Foundation accepts no responsibility for the opinions, statements and contents included in the project and/or the results thereof, which are entirely the responsibility of the authors. Moreover, this work was supported by the University of Valencia (UV-INV-EPC12-67851).