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. 2022 Nov 11:13:1040935.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1040935. eCollection 2022.

Alexithymia and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in Chinese undergraduate students during the COVID-19 national lockdown: The mediating role of sleep problems and the moderating role of self-esteem

Yi Zhang  1   2 , Yijin Zhao  3   4 , Ting Ni  2   5 , Jing Chen  6 , Wanjie Tang  3   7
Affiliations

Alexithymia and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in Chinese undergraduate students during the COVID-19 national lockdown: The mediating role of sleep problems and the moderating role of self-esteem

Yi Zhang et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: This study examined whether sleep disturbance was a mediator between alexithymic traits and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) COVID-19 pandemic-related stress symptoms, and explored whether self-esteem moderated the alexithymic contribution to poor sleep and PTSD symptoms.

Method: A representative sample of young adults (N = 2,485) from six universities in Southwest China completed online self-report surveys on alexithymia, sleep, PTSD, self-esteem, sociodemographic information, and health-related behaviors.

Results: High alexithymic young adults were found to be more likely to have higher sleep problems and higher PTSD symptoms. The moderated mediation model showed that sleep problems mediated the associations between alexithymia and PTSD symptoms. Alexithymic people with lower self-esteem were more likely to have elevated PTSD symptoms and sleep problems than those with higher self-esteem.

Conclusion: Targeted psychological interventions for young people who have difficulty expressing and identifying emotions are recommended as these could assist in reducing their post-traumatic psychophysical and psychological problems. Improving self-esteem could also offer some protection for trauma-exposed individuals.

Keywords: COVID-19; alexithymia; post-traumatic stress disorder; self-esteem; sleep disturbance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hypothetical moderated mediation model. PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Moderation effect of self-esteem between alexithymia and PTSD. High and low levels of self-esteem represent one standard deviation above and below the mean. SE, self-esteem; PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Moderation effect of self-esteem between alexithymia and sleep disturbance. High and low levels of self-esteem represent one standard deviation above and below the mean. SE, self-esteem.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Moderation effect of self-esteem between sleep disturbance and PTSD. High and low levels of self-esteem represent one standard deviation above and below the mean. SE, self-esteem; PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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