L’alexithymie, entendue au sens de trouble de la régulation des émotions, est connue pour son influence sur la vulnérabilité aux émotions négatives, et pose néanmoins la question de la dimension répressive, notamment suite aux travaux de Myers (1995) et à ceux de Newton et Contrada (1994). Si l’alexithymie renvoie sous certaines conditions à cette dimension, nous devrions observer des traces du comportement répresseur sur la détresse émotionnelle. Nous avons donc étudié l’influence de l’intensité des scores d’alexithymie sur l’anxiété trait (AT), l’anxiété état (AE) et la dépression, et ce, en regard du sexe des participants. Nos résultats étayent la réalité de la répression des émotions en condition de faible alexithymie d’une part, et reposent la question des liens entre sexe et alexithymie d’autre part. En effet, l’expérience émotionnelle emprunte des voies différentes et surprenantes, invitant à interroger la pertinence d’une différenciation du type d’alexithymie selon que l’on est un homme ou une femme.

Alexithymia, considered as a disorder of affect regulation, is well known for its consequences on the vulnerability to negative emotions, but nevertheless it raises the question of the repressive dimension according to Myers’ (1995) and Newton and Contrada’s (1994) researches. If, under certain conditions, alexithymia refers to this dimension we should observed traces of this repressive behaviour on emotional distress. We thus studied the influence of alexithymia scores on trait anxiety, state anxiety and depression, and this relatively to the gender of the participants.

We first compared the mean scores of distress of our three groups of subjects (low alexithymia, N=32; moderate alexithymia, N=62, high alexithymia, N=33) with the norms of the general population. Secondly, we studied the consequences of alexithymia intensity on depressive symptoms, trait and state anxiety, with regard to the gender differences. We used 1) the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger) to assess dispositional and acute anxiety, 2) the Center for Epidemiological Scale for Depression (Radloff) to evaluate depressive symptomatology and 3) the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby) for the alexithymia construct.

In the lower alexithymia group, the total mean scores of depression for men or women (men: 8.06±7.06; women: 8.88±6.84) were significantly lower than those in the general population (men: 12.73±3.02; women: 13.97±3.62). We obtained the same pattern of consequences of a low alexithymia with regard to trait anxiety (men: 32.73±10.20 versus 41.86±9.48; women: 37.17±8.48 versus 45.09±11.11). Finally, there was no difference between the lower alexithymia group mean scores and the general population references, regardless of gender. In addition, in our group of women, the higher the alexithymia mean scores, the more important were the depression (F(2,68)=21.13, P≤0.000), trait anxiety (F(2,68)=12.51, P≤0.000) and state anxiety (F(2,68)=6.72, P≤0.002) mean scores. The male participants did not show a particular vulnerability to the alexithymia intensity, except for trait anxiety in the moderate condition (t(43)=–2.30, P≤0.026).

Our results support the reality of the emotional repression in the condition of lower alexithymia and raise the question of the links between alexithymia and gender. Indeed, emotional experience follows different and surprising ways, inviting us to think about the relevance of a differentiation of the type of alexithymia according to whether one is a man or a woman.