Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38890601›Full record

ArticleBMC psychiatry2024

The association among negative life events, alexithymia, and depressive symptoms in a psychosomatic outpatient sample.

Yinghan Xie, Dandan Ma, Yanping Duan, Jinya Cao, Jing Wei

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

9 citing papers in PubMed.

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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

5 authors.

Yinghan Xie *Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shuaifuyuan 1, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China.
Dandan Ma *Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shuaifuyuan 1, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China.
Yanping Duan *Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shuaifuyuan 1, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China.
Jinya CaoDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shuaifuyuan 1, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China. caojinya@pumch.cn.
Jing WeiDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shuaifuyuan 1, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China. weijing@pumch.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDepression is a life-threatening mental health problem. Various factors have been demonstrated to be associated with depressive symptoms, including negative life events (NLEs) and alexithymia. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the relationship among negative life events, alexithymia, and depression symptoms in a psychosomatic outpatient sample in China.

methodsA total of 2747 outpatients (aged 18 - 65) were included in this investigation. The Life Events Scale (LES), Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-26), and 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to assess NLEs, alexithymia, and depressive symptoms, respectively. A stepwise regression analysis model was established to investigate the relationship among alexithymia, NLEs, and depressive symptoms.

resultsOverall, 67.0% of the patient sample had a PHQ-9 score of 10 or higher. The stepwise regression analysis model showed a well-fitted model, in which NLEs and alexithymia explain a total of 34.2% of the variance of depressive symptoms in these participants. NLEs (β = 0.256, p < 0.001) and dimensions of alexithymia (difficult describing feelings (β = 0.192, p < 0.001) and identifying feelings (β = 0.308, p < 0.001)) were positively correlated with symptoms of depression.

conclusionsPrevious studies have confirmed the correlation between NLEs and depression, alexithymia and depression, respectively. In our study, we used a stepwise regression model to explain the relationship among those variables simultaneously, and found that NLEs and alexithymia could function as predictors of depressive symptoms. Based on this discovery, alexithymia-focused treatment strategies could be alternative in depressive patients with alexithymia, but this remains to be verified in the future.

Indexed as

Affective SymptomsDepressionOutpatientsAdolescentAdultAgedChinaFemaleHumansLife Change EventsMaleMiddle AgedPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesPsychophysiologic DisordersRetrospective StudiesYoung AdultAlexithymiaDepressionNegative life eventsStepwise regression analysis

Identifiers

PMID38890601
PMCPMC11186062

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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.