Alexithymia and its influence on perceived social support, stress, and help-seeking attitudes in men undergoing radical prostatectomy

作者：Xiaoli Zhang, Lijie Huang, Feijie Wang, Haixin Zhang · 发表于：Journal of Affective Disorders · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.jad.2025.119676 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments、Cancer survivorship and care、Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

BACKGROUND: Men undergoing radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer often exhibit reluctance to seek professional psychological help. Emerging evidence suggests that alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying and expressing emotions-may contribute to this reluctance by impairing emotional processing and interpersonal functioning. However, the relationships among alexithymia, perceived social support, perceived stress, and help-seeking attitudes remain insufficiently explored in this population. This study aims to examine the influence of alexithymia on these key psychosocial factors in men with prostate cancer. METHODS: A total of 430 men who had undergone radical prostatectomy, with a mean age of 69.92 ± 4.71 years, were recruited for the study. Participants completed a series of standardized questionnaires, including a demographic survey, the Normative Male Alexithymia Scale-Brief Form, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form. RESULTS: Higher levels of alexithymia were significantly associated with lower perceived social support and more negative attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Alexithymia was also positively correlated with higher levels of perceived stress. Furthermore, perceived social support and perceived stress were identified as statistically significant mediators in the relationship between alexithymia and help-se...