Alexithymia and behavioral disorders as risk factors for alcohol misuse in adolescence.

Introduction Alcohol is the psychoactive substance most used by adolescents, lately their alcohol abuse has become internationally a serious public health concern. Psychobehavioral factors research relating to alcohol abuse has led to various studies identifying several psychopathological disorders and alexithymic traits in adults.This relationship has to be analyzed in adolescents however. Method The present study aimed to assess alcohol consumption and its possible relationship with psychological vulnerability, in terms of psychobehavioral problems and alexithymia. The study was conducted on a sample of 1466 pupils attending secondary school (grades 6 to 13), consisting of 53,6% males and 46,4 % females, with a mean age of 13,5 years ± 1,7 SD. These adolescents were administered the Adolescents’ Saturday Nights Questionnaire to quantify their alcohol consumption, the Toronto Alexithymic Scale for developmental age to identify any alexithymic traits, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Youth Self-Report 11-18 to detect any psychobehavioral problems. Results Males drank more alcohol than females, and their consumption increased with age. Alexithymia was more widespread and stable among females, and tended to increase from 11 to 13 years old, then decreased gradually from 14 to 17 years old. An association between alcohol consumption and psychobehavioral problems was identified in the whole sample, while a statistically significant correlation between alcohol consumption and alexithymia only emerged in the subsample of 6th- to 8th-graders. Among this younger group, those returning the highest scores for alexithymia and psychobehavioral problems also reported significantly higher alcohol consumption than their peers without such psychological issues. Conclusions Alexithymic traits are a risk factor for alcohol consumption in preadolescence, especially when associated with psychobehavioral problems. Preventive measures designed for such young adolescents should therefore concentrate on improving their emotional awareness