The mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between trait anger and aggressive behavior among male prisoners / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between trait anger and aggressive behavior among male violent prisoners.Methods:A sample of 268 male violent prisoners completed self-report measures of the trait anger scale (TAS), Toronto alexithymia scale-20 (TAS-20) and the Chinese college students' version of Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire. SPSS 23.0 software and Mplus 8.0 software were used to test the mediating effect.Results:The total scores of trait anger, aggressive behavior and alexithymia were (17.75±4.93), (52.15±10.61)and (70.90±19.40), respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed that trait anger was both significantly positively correlated with aggressive behavior ( r=0.67, P<0.01) and alexithymia ( r=0.40, P<0.01), and there was also a significantly positive correlation between alexithymia and aggressive behavior ( r=0.55, P<0.01). Multivariate hierarchical regression analysis showed that trait anger directly predicted aggressive behavior ( β=0.67, P<0.01) after controlling the influence of alcohol addiction. Emotional recognition disorder played a partially mediating role in the relationship between trait anger and aggressive behavior ( β=0.18, 95% CI=0.11-0.27). Conclusion:Trait anger not only directly affects male violent prisoners aggressive behavior, but also indirectly affects male violent prisoners aggressive behavior through emotional recognition disorder.