Association of Alexithymia, Loneliness and Psychological Distress among University Students

Abstract

To explore the association between Alexithymia, loneliness, and psychological distress among university students. A total of 331 participants were taken from the different universities of Lahore, Punjab. The participants' ages ranged from 17 to 25 years old. The sample consisted of male (n=50.8%) and female  (n=49.8%) The sample was taken using a convenience sampling technique. The following measures were used to assess the findings: Demographic form, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Loneliness Scale. Findings indicate that alexithymia had a strong positive correlation with psychological suffering and loneliness and loneliness was significantly positively correlated with psychological distress.  Furthermore, females exhibited higher levels of alexithymia, loneliness, and psychological suffering compared to males. It is concluded that lack of emotional insight and communication difficulties lead to challenges in forming and maintaining meaningful connections with others, resulting in feelings of loneliness.