Insecure attachment and alexithymia have traditionally been associated with eating disorders. However, research has recently started to examine the specific mechanisms by which attachment insecurity affect disordered eating. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the hypothesis that alexithymia mediates the relationships between insecure attachment patterns and eating disorders (EDs) and to test the relative contribution of each component of alexithymia. 323 female university students and 38 anorexic patients completed questionnaires on attachment, alexithymia and ED symptoms within a structural equation modeling approach. Insecure attachment was related to alexithymia, specifically difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF) subscales of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Furthermore, alexithymia scores were associated with eating disorder symptoms. However, only DIF mediated the relationship between attachment insecurity and ED symptoms. Despite the limitations of the cross-section design, attachment and alexithymia seem to be an important focus when preventing and treating EDs.

传统上，不安全的依恋和运动障碍与饮食失调有关。但是，最近的研究已经开始研究依恋不安全感影响饮食失调的具体机制。因此，本研究的目的是调查以下事实：运动障碍能介导不安全的依恋模式与进食障碍（ED）之间的关系，并检验运动障碍的每个组成部分的相对贡献。323名女大学生和38名厌食症患者在结构方程模型化方法中完成了关于依恋，运动障碍和ED症状的问卷调查。不安全的依恋与读写障碍有关，特别是难以识别感觉（DIF）和难以描述多伦多Alexithymia量表的感觉（DDF）分量表。此外，智力低下评分与饮食失调症状有关。但是，只有DIF介导了附件不安全感和ED症状之间的关系。尽管横截面设计存在局限性，但在预防和治疗ED时，依恋和吞咽困难似乎仍是重要的重点。