Alexithymia, emotional awareness and perceived dysfunctional parental behaviors in heroin dependents

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com © Springer Science+Business MediaThe aim of this study was to analyse alexithymia and deficits in emotional awareness, in heroin addicts, and their relationship with perceptions of early parental interactions. The sample included 99 opiate dependent outpatients and 43 healthy controls. Assessment was performed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale, the Inventory for Assessing Memories of Parental Rearing Behavior, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Findings suggest parental representations, which were mostly characterized by emotional unavailability and a rejection interaction pattern, significantly related to alexithymia. Emotional awareness was associated with the number of years of drug use and methadone level. Negative affect was associated with alexithymia but not to emotional awareness. Regression analyses emphasized the influence of perceived dysfunctional parenting behaviors in alexithymia and difficulties in identifying feelings, particularly an interaction with paternal rejection, moderated by self-reported anxiety. These results are discussed addressing comprehensive issues of emotion regulation and treatment strategies in heroin dependence

Childhood maltreatment as a risk factor for COPD: findings from a population-based survey of Canadian adults

Margot E Shields, Wendy E Hovdestad, Charles P Gilbert, Lil E Tonmyr Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the associations between childhood maltreatment (CM) and COPD in adulthood.Methods: Data were from 15,902 respondents to the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey – Mental Health. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine associations between CM and COPD and the role of smoking and mental and substance use variables as mediators in associations.Results: COPD in adulthood was related to CM, with associations differing by sex. Among females, COPD was related to childhood physical abuse (CPA), childhood sexual abuse, and childhood exposure to intimate partner violence, but in the fully adjusted models, the association with CPA did not persist. Among males, COPD was related to childhood exposure to intimate partner violence and severe and frequent CPA, but these associations did not persist in the fully adjusted models.Conclusion: Results from this study establish CM as a risk factor for COPD in adulthood. A large part of the association is attributable to cigarette smoking, particularly for males. These findings underscore the importance of interventions to prevent CM as well as programs to assist victims of CM in dealing with tobacco addiction. Keywords: child abuse, cigarette, smoking, physical abuse, sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, domestic violence, family violenc