Special Issue: Present Trends and Future Insights into the Alexithymia Construct
We are excited to share that a Special Issue is currently open in Current Psychology journal: "Alexithymia: Present Trends and Future Insights into the Construct"
Submission deadline is 30 June 2027.
Guest Editors
Paweł Larionow, Ph.D., University College of Professional Education, Poland, larionow.research@gmail.com
Kristy Nielson, Ph.D., Marquette University, USA, kristy.nielson@marquette.edu
Olivier Luminet, Ph.D., UCLouvain, Belgium, olivier.luminet@uclouvain.be
Overview
Alexithymia is a personality trait characterised by a multi-component constellation of interrelated cognitive-affective features, mainly involving difficulty identifying one’s feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and an externally oriented thinking style. In the more than fifty years since the origination of the alexithymia construct, it continues to attract more researchers and clinicians in psychiatry, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and other arenas of experimental and emotion sciences.
Across arenas, various theoretical models or frameworks and extensive empirical findings have been advanced that have shaped multiple different conceptualisations of alexithymia. These conceptualisations share some perspectives, but also have important differences that are not yet fully recognised or evaluated in research or practice. This includes fundamental ongoing theoretical debates about the structure of the alexithymia construct itself, and the etiology and precise characterizations of its components in understanding the expression of alexithymia and its influences and consequences. Yet, there is little existing literature that directly compares and evaluates different alexithymia conceptualisations together against empirical findings.
Alexithymia can be considered a transdiagnostic risk factor for a wide range of psychopathologies (e.g., anxiety and depressive disorders) and somatic illnesses; therefore, alexithymia assessments are clinically important. Given relevant differences in the theoretical frameworks, it is not clear how various models with their respective measures perform under the same conditions, such as in predicting emotional, cognitive, and somatic outcomes.
The Goal and Scope
The primary goal of this Collection is to focus on conceptualisations of the alexithymia construct, their similarities and differences, and comparative performance in a wide range of conditions, including non-clinical and clinical settings. We kindly invite potential authors who can elucidate these issues by providing theoretical examination or empirical evidence.
The Topics
The topics covered in this Collection may include but are not limited to:
(1) Conceptualisation and elucidation of the alexithymia construct (e.g., empirical examinations and reviews of the components and foundations of the construct) as well as new, empirically grounded theoretical frameworks;
(2) Comparative performance analyses of competing frameworks in non-clinical and clinical samples and/or in emotive and non-emotive contexts;
(3) Highlights on the importance of multi-measure, multi-method approach in alexithymia research and assessment;
(4) Measurement considerations of major alexithymia tools, including critical analysis of existing literature, when theory or conceptualization of the alexithymia construct is a central focus.
Article Types
Reviews and original research papers, as well as comprehensive comments and perspectives in response to reviews and original research papers are welcome. Manuscripts will undergo standard peer review processes according to the journal’s requirements; therefore, they should be carefully prepared and scientifically rigorous.
Before submitting the paper, please send its title and abstract to the guest editors to check whether the paper is in line with the scope. Further information and inquiries can be directed to any of the guest editors.
