Page 46 - JCBP-2-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Alexithymia as a mediator relationship

to assess health anxiety. This questionnaire consists of 21 Table 1. Characteristics of the participants
items, self-administered and rated on a five-point Likert
Number of
scale ranging from “Never” to “Most of the time.” In our Characteristic participants Percentage
study, we calculated a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.922 (N=814)
for HAQ. The health anxiety score is derived by summing Gender
the scores of all items, ranging from 21 to 105; a higher Female 649 79.7
score indicates greater health anxiety. The HAQ assesses
four dimensions: (i) FID (Items 3, 10, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21), Male 165 20.3
(ii) SFR (Items 8, 9, 11, 12, 13), (iii) IAD (Items 16, 17, 18), Education level
and (iv) HWC (Items 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7). Baccalauréate level or lower 232 28.5
Two-year post-baccalauréate degree 125 15.4
2.2. Procedure
Bachelor’s degree 196 24.1
Data collection was carried out during the first lockdown of Four-year bachelor’s degree 84 10.3
the French population due to COVID-19, spanning between Master’s degree and above 177 21.7
March 31, 2020, and April 20, 2020. Participants were
invited to answer a questionnaire hosted online through Occupational status
Google Form, which was disseminated through social Student with a part-time job 384 47.2
media platforms (Facebook and Instagram) and through Student without a part-time job 82 10.1
word of mouth. The inclusion criteria were proficiency Craftsmen or company managers 25 3.1
in French and being over 18 years old. Before completing Managers or working in 113 13.9
the questionnaire, participants were asked to review the an intellectual profession
consent form containing all necessary information, in Intermediate profession 44 5.4
accordance with the RGPD 2016/679 regulation. This form Employees or workers 108 13.3
outlined the study’s objectives and assured participants Retired 18 2.2
of the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses. Unemployed 40 4.9
Participants were then asked to explicitly provide their
consent before proceeding with the questionnaire. Ethical Lockdown situations
considerations were adhered to throughout the research, Continued to go to the workplace 66 8.1
in full conformity with the RGPD (Regulation [EU] Teleworking 226 27.8
2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council Short time working 68 8.4
of April 27, 2016, on the protection of individuals with Sick leave 32 3.9
regard to the processing of personal data and on the free Without professional 25 3.1
movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC activity without being paid
[General Data Protection Regulation]). No professional activity 397 48.8
before the lockdown
2.3. Participants
The study involved 814 adult participants, comprising 48
79.7% women (n=649) and 20.3% men (n=165). The SPSS macro PROCESS to assess the mediation pathway
mean age was 30 years old (standard deviation [SD]=12.5) between high sensitivity and health anxiety through
and ranged from 18 to 76 years. Characteristics of the alexithymia.
participants are presented in Table 1. 3. Results

2.4. Statistical analysis 3.1. Descriptive statistics
Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 28. Regarding the SPS scores, the range spanned from a
The internal reliability of the scales was measured minimum of 47 to a maximum of 182, with a mean score
using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, as detailed in of 124.65 (SD=22.96). Adopting a categorical perspective
Section 2.1. Pearson’s correlations were computed to (acknowledging the inherent limitations of such an
examine the relationships between the constructs and their approach) and following the classification proposed by
dimensions. ANOVA was used to assess whether specific Lionetti et al., 236 participants (29.0%) had an overall
4
sociodemographic variables influenced the dependent sensitivity score strictly below 113, indicative of a low
variables under investigation. Before examining the level of SPS (low-SPS); 330 participants (40.5%) had a
mediating effect, linear regressions were performed using score between 113 and 137, indicating a moderate level

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.2681