Alexithymia and gastrointestinal-specific anxiety in moderate to severe irritable bowel syndrome

Alexithymia and GSA were closely related to each other and associated to IBS severity, thus suggesting a common basis of emotional dysregulation. However, alexithymia (particularly the facets of difficulty identifying and describing feelings) resulted to be a stronger predictor of IBS severity than GSA, thus suggesting that impaired affective awareness may reflect on the clinical manifestations of IBS.