Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30780118›Full record

ArticleJournal of affective disorders2019

Alexithymia is associated with neural reactivity to masked emotional faces in adolescents who self-harm.

Lauren A Demers, Melinda Westlund Schreiner, Ruskin H Hunt, Bryon A Mueller, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan, Kathleen M Thomas, Kathryn R Cullen

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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Lauren A DemersInstitute of Child Development, University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: demer048@umn.edu.
Melinda Westlund SchreinerDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Ruskin H HuntInstitute of Child Development, University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Bryon A MuellerDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Bonnie Klimes-DouganDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Kathleen M ThomasInstitute of Child Development, University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Kathryn R CullenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
University of Minnesota · USUniversity of Minnesota Medical Center · US

Funding

INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDT32MH015755 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI Megan R Gunnar · 1985 to 2026
$5.9M
Exploring the Neural Circuitry of Deliberate Self Harm in AdolescentsR21MH094558 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI CULLEN, KATHRYN REGAN · 2012 to 2013
$410k
NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH094558NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH015755
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major, trans-diagnostic mental health problem among adolescents. Alexithymia has been identified as a developmental risk factor for NSSI. Research on how alexithymia relates to the neurobiology of automatic emotion processing is only beginning to emerge. This study evaluates the relationship between alexithymic features and neural responses to automatic processing of emotional content in adolescents with NSSI.

methods25 female adolescents (ages 13-21) with a history of repeated engagement in NSSI completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a task in which participants were exposed to masked emotions.

resultsOne facet of alexithymia, limited internal emotion awareness or externally-oriented thinking (EOT), was related to differential reactivity to masked emotional faces in clusters in the right supramarginal gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus. Follow-up assessment of regional reactivity revealed that greater EOT is associated with lower activation to masked happy faces but higher activation to masked fearful faces. Other facets of alexithymia did not show relationships with reactivity to masked emotional faces. LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional and small sample that only includes females, which may attenuate generalizability of findings.

conclusionsWe report neural correlates of multiple facets of alexithymia in adolescents with NSSI. Among adolescents who self-harm, those with higher levels of EOT may be less alert to subtle positively-valenced emotion cues. For this subset of adolescents with NSSI, interventions designed to enhance mental representation of emotional responses and attention to positive emotions may be appropriate.

Indexed as

EmotionsAdolescentAffective SymptomsAwarenessBrainCross-Sectional StudiesFaceFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingSelf-Injurious BehaviorYoung AdultAlexithymiafMRIMasked facesNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)

Identifiers

PMID30780118
PMCPMC6724702
OpenAlexW2913020948

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.