The mediating role of marital adjustment and parenting stress on the relationship between alexithymia and psychopathology

The current study was conducted to examine the factors that are related to psychological symptoms in married women. To this end, firstly, the relationships between alexithymia, marital adjustment, parenting stress, attachment styles, and psychological symptoms were examined. Secondly, within the main purpose of the study, the mediating role of marital adjustment and parenting stress on the relationship between alexithymia and psychological symptoms was examined after controlling for the effects of attachment styles and age. The data of the study was obtained from 419 married women who have children. For this purpose, A Demographical Information Form, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Parenting Stress Scale, The Inventory of Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised and Brief Symptom Inventory were applied on the participants. According to the results, marital adjustment and parenting stress mediated the relationship between alexithymia and depression, anxiety, hostility, and negative self, respectively. However, marital adjustment and parenting stress did not mediate the relationship between alexithymia and somatization. The findings of the study were discussed on the basis of the literature. Keywords: Alexithymia, Marital Adjustment, Parenting Stress, Psychological Symptoms, Attachment