Page 43 - JCBP-2-2

Journal of Clinical and

Basic Psychosomatics

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evaluating alexithymia as a mediator of the

relationship between sensory processing
sensitivity and health anxiety

Jimmy Bordarie *, Colette Aguerre , and Laëtitia Bolteau 2
1
1
1 QualiPsy UR1901, Department of Psychology, University of Tours, Tours, France
2 EMLA, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France

Abstract
Highly sensitive individuals demonstrate heightened responses to environmental
stimuli than their peers, often presenting with anxious and depressive
symptomatology akin to those in alexithymic individuals. Alexithymia, referred to as
difficulty in describing or identifying emotions, is of particular interest to use as a
mediating variable between sensitivity to sensory processing and health anxiety. The
present study aims to explore the relationship between sensory processing sensitivity
(SPS) and alexithymia, and their collective impact on health anxiety, a correlation
which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously examined, despite the
common preoccupation with health among those affected. Health anxiety, defined
by the fear of suffering from a serious and/or chronic illness, or of misinterpreting
somatic symptoms as signs of illness, is the focal point of this investigation. The study
recruited 814 adults (79.7% women and 20.3% men), with a mean age of 30 years
old (standard deviation = 12.5 years), ranging from 18 to 76 years. Participants
*Corresponding author:
Jimmy Bordarie anonymously answered a questionnaire consisting of the French versions of the
(jimmy.bordarie@univ-tours.fr) Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS-FR), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and the
Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ). Statistical analyses, including correlations,
Citation: Bordarie J, Aguerre C,
Bolteau L. Evaluating alexithymia ANOVA, linear regressions, and mediation analysis, were performed using SPSS
as a mediator of the relationship and the SPSS macro PROCESS. Results revealed significant positive correlations
between sensory processing among the three constructs (P < 0.001). Furthermore, both SPS and alexithymia
sensitivity and health anxiety. J Clin
Basic Psychosom. 2024;2(2):2681. were found to be predictive of health anxiety (P < 0.001). In addition, an indirect
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.2681 partial mediation effect between SPS and health anxiety through alexithymia was
Received: January 8, 2024 observed. This study highlights the intertwined relationship between sensitivity
and alexithymia, shedding light on their collective impact on anxiety, particularly
Accepted: March 6, 2024
health anxiety. Moreover, it facilitates the examination of this relationship within a
Published Online: April 1, 2024 large population and amidst the specific context of COVID-19. Practical perspectives
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). concerning support for highly sensitive people are discussed, taking into account
This is an Open-Access article their potential specific needs.
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, Keywords: Sensory processing sensitivity; Alexithymia; Health anxiety; Mediation analysis
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) has garnered increasing attention since the seminal
2
1
affiliations. work of Aron and Aron. Considered an innate temperamental trait allowing certain
Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.2681