ArticleEating and weight disorders : EWD2021
Alexithymia and metabolic syndrome: the mediating role of binge eating.
Article in Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Gender of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire-Short Form in Italian Workers.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Disordered eating in office workers is correlated with trauma, stress, emotional regulation, and sleep quality: a cross-sectional screening.AIMS public health · 2026Article
- Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Alexithymia: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Violence in Healthcare Workers Is Associated with Disordered Eating.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Eating Disorders in the Workplace.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Key-in-session identity negotiations in a first line treatment for adult anorexia nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Alexithymia and estimated 10-year cardiovascular disease risk in healthy adults: a community-based cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Improvement in binge eating and alexithymia predicts weight loss at 9-month follow-up of the lifestyle modification program.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2023Article
- Impact of Alexithymia on the Lipid Profile in Major Depressed Individuals.Journal of lipids · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAlexithymia, a personality trait characterized by difficulties in emotional processing, has been associated with unhealthy behaviors and chronic medical conditions. This study aimed to further develop our understanding of this complex relationship by investigating whether alexithymia increases the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in participants with obesity or overweight through the mediating role of binge eating (BE).
methodsA consecutive sample of 238 treatment-seeking patients with obesity or overweight were recruited. Alexithymia (TAS-20), binge eating symptoms (BES), body mass index (BMI), and depression and anxiety symptoms (HADS) were concurrently assessed.
resultsAlmost half of the participants met the criteria for MetS (44.12%). Compared to patients without MetS, those with MetS were older, had a longer duration of overweight, and had a higher BMI (p < 0.01). Individual with MetS also had higher HADS, BES, and TAS-20 scores, particularly difficulty identifying and describing feelings. The structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that BES levels exerted a significant direct effect on MetS (p < 0.01), and that TAS-20 levels exerted a significant direct effect on BES (p < 0.01), anxiety (p < 0.001) and depression (p < 0.001). Moreover, psychological distress (anxiety, p = 0.01, and depression, p = .05) indirectly affected MetS through the mediating effect of BES, and TAS-20 (p = 0.01) indirectly affected MetS through the mediating effect of HADS and BES. Finally, age had a significant direct effect on MetS (p < 0.001).
conclusionOur findings indicate that alexithymia is a concurrent causative factor to the development of MetS through the mediating role of BE and psychological distress. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, case-control analytic study.
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