ArticleThe journal of headache and pain2015
Alexithymic characteristics in pediatric patients with primary headache: a comparison between migraine and tension-type headache.
Article in The journal of headache and pain, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Emotion Regulation and Temperament Characteristics in Children and Adolescents Diagnosed With Migraine and Tension-Type Headache.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Headache Onset Timing as a Predictor for Comorbid Conditions of Pediatric Primary Headache.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Beyond the Pain: A Critical Examination of the Psychopathological and Neuropsychological Dimensions of Primary Headaches in Pediatric Populations.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Association Between Alexithymia, Interoception, and Pain in Pediatric Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.Integrative medicine reports · 2025Review
- Tension-Type Headache in Children and Adolescents.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Externalising Behaviours, Impulsivity, Alexithymia, and Emotional Dysregulation in Adolescents' Suicidality.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2023Article
- Emotional Experience and Regulation in Juvenile Primary Headaches: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Pre-Adolescent and Adolescent Clinical Sample Study about Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempt, and Self-Harming.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2022Article
- Emotional Problems in Pediatric Headache Patients.Current pain and headache reports · 2022Review
- Alexithymia and Psychopathological Manifestations Centered on the Body: Somatization and Self-Harm.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Hospitalisation in Child Neuropsychiatry: A Case Study Along a Five-Year Epidemiological-Clinical Trend.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2022Article
- Parental Bonding and Children's Psychopathology: A Transgenerational View Point.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The Role of Alexithymia in Social Withdrawal during Adolescence: A Case-Control Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Using the Body When There Are No Words for Feelings: Alexithymia and Somatization in Self-Harming Adolescents.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Migraine in childhood: an organic, biobehavioral, or psychosomatic disorder?Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2019Review
- Alexithymia, Metacognition, and Theory of Mind in Children and Preadolescents With Migraine Without Aura (MWoA): A Case-Control Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Article
- Headache and Alexithymia in Children and Adolescents: What Is the Connection?Frontiers in psychology · 2018Review
- Rorschach Evaluation of Personality and Emotional Characteristics in Adolescents With Migraine Versus Epilepsy and Controls.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
- Alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms in adolescent outpatients and mothers suffering from migraines: a case control study.The journal of headache and pain · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlexithymia is a personality construct characterized by difficulties in verbal emotional expression and a limited ability to use one's imagination. Evidence of alexithymic characteristics was found in adults suffering from headache, while little is known about children. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of alexithymia in two different subgroups of children and adolescents suffering from primary headache. We also looked for correlation between alexithymia in children and in their mothers.
methodsThis study involved 89 participants: 47 (11 males, 36 females, aged 8 to 17 years) suffering from tension-type headache (TTH), and 42 (18 males, 24 females, aged 8 to 17 years) suffering from migraine (M), based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD 2013). A control group of 32 headache-free subjects (26 females and 6 males, aged 8 to 17 years) was also considered. Two questionnaires were administered to measure alexithymia: the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children to young patients and controls, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to the mothers.
resultsHigher rates of alexithymia emerged in the TTH group compared to the M group. In particular, TTH sufferers had difficulty identifying their feelings. The mothers of children with headaches didn't score higher in alexithymia compared to other mothers. In the M and in the control group, there was a significant correlation between the rates of alexithymia in young people and in their mothers.
conclusionsTo date no other study has investigated alexithymia in subgroups of primary headaches in developmental age. Our results suggest that patients suffering from TTH are more alexithymic than M patients. This pave the way to etiopathogenetic and clinical considerations, calling for a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to tackle the problem of headache.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.