It is suggested in literature that there is a link between Alexithymia and Self-Differentiation; however, little is known about possible mediation factors. The goal of this work is to test in a non-clinical population of adults the mediation role of Fear of Intimacy and Adult Attachment in the relationship between Alexithymia and Self-Differentiation. A sample of 258 participants self identified as gay or lesbian, aged 20–50 years (M: 30.29; SD: 7.27), 45% of whom were males, completed self-reported measures of Alexithymia (TAS-20), Self-Differentiation (SDI), Fear of Intimacy (FIS); and Insecure Adult Attachment (RAAS). Our results show that Alexithymia predicts Self-Differentiation both directly and indirectly, through Fear of Intimacy and Insecure adult attachment. In addition, Fear of Intimacy directly influences Self-Differentiation, and also mediates the relationship between Alexithymia and Adult Attachment which, in turn, negatively predicts Self-Differentiation. In conclusion, Alexithymia predicts Self-Differentiation while Fear of Intimacy and adult attachment may act as mediators of the report. Limitations of the study and directions of future research are described.

文献表明，Alexithymia和自我分化之间存在联系。但是，对于可能的调解因素知之甚少。这项工作的目的是在非临床成年人中测试恐惧感和成人依恋在Alexithymia和自我分化之间的关系中的中介作用。自我确定为同性恋者的258名参与者的样本，年龄20–50岁（男：30.29；标准差：7.27），其中45％是男性，完成了自我报告的测量异性癖的方法（TAS-20），自我分化（SDI），对亲密的恐惧（FIS）；和不安全的成人依恋（RAAS）。我们的结果表明，Alexithymia通过恐惧亲密关系和不安全的成人依恋直接或间接地预测自我分化。此外，对亲密的恐惧会直接影响自我分化，并且还介导了Alexithymia和成人依恋之间的关系，而后者反过来又预示着自我分化。总之，Alexithymia会预测自我分化，而对亲密感和成人依恋的恐惧可能会充当报告的中介。描述了研究的局限性和未来的研究方向。