Alexithymia in Patients With Antisocial Personality Disorder in a Military Hospital Setting

We investigated the prevalence of alexithymic features & other psychometric correlates in patients diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder in a military hospital setting. Antisocial patients showed significantly higher rates of unemployment, lower educational & socioeconomic status, higher rates of self mutilation, previous suicide attempts, substance abuse, history of incarceration & broken family bonds. The patients also displayed significantly higher scores on alexithymia, depression, hopelessness & general psychological distress measures. (29 refs)