Alexithymia in the interpersonal domain: A general deficit of empathy?

Alexithymia and empathy have been related but very little is known on shared variance between their respective affective and cognitive dimensions. We examined this question with correlations, as well as both exploratory and confirmatory analyses, and controlled for anxiety and depression. The responses of 645 young adults to self-report questionnaires of alexithymia (TAS-20), empathy (IRI), anxiety (STAI-T) and depression (BDI-13) were examined. We observed associations between the proposed cognitive components of alexithymia (externally-oriented thinking) and that of empathy (perspective taking, fantasy) as well as empathic concern, which were insensitive to anxiety or depression. In contrast, associations between the proposed affective components of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings) and empathy (personal distress) were largely due to shared covariance with anxiety. A model encompassing an affective and a cognitive (including empathic concern) latent factors emerged, even after controlling for dysphoric affects. These findings suggest specific associations between cognitive and affective components of both constructs that were dissimilarly affected by anxiety and depression. The allocation of empathic concern to the cognitive factor is also discussed.