Deficit in speech development at the age of 5 years predicts alexithymia in late-adolescent males

The results suggest that speech development is a significant factor in the developmental process of alexithymia, at least in males. It is possible that children who have impaired language skills and therefore struggle in social situations have a higher risk of developing alexithymia. This emphasizes the need for further research to assess how the inadequate speech development predisposes to the emergence of alexithymic features and whether it is a sex-specific phenomenon.