Background: Headache is a common disorder affecting a growing number of children and adolescents. In recent
years, there has been an increase in scientific interest in exploring the relationship between migraine and
emotional regulation, and in particular, the impact of emotional dysregulation on mental and physical health. The
present study aims to explore the relationship between migraine and alexithymia among adolescents and their
mothers as well as the impact of this association on mental health. An additional aim is to verify whether
alexithymia may be a predictor of psychopathological symptoms in adolescents and mothers with migraines.
Methods: A total of 212 subjects were involved in this study. The sample was divided into (a) Experimental Group
(EG) consisting of 106 subjects (53 adolescents and 53 mothers) with a diagnosis of migraine according to
International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) and (b) Control Group (CG) including 106 subjects (53
adolescents and 53 mothers) without a diagnosis of migraine. All participants completed the Toronto Alexithymia
Scale to assess alexithymia and the Symptom Checklist-90-R to assess psychopathological symptoms.
Results: Higher rates of alexithymia were found in the adolescents and mothers of the EG in comparison to the
adolescents and mothers of the CG. Furthermore, adolescents and mothers experiencing both migraine and
alexithymia, demonstrated a higher risk of psychopathology.
Conclusions: Findings from this study provide evidence that the co-occurrence of migraine and alexithymia
increases the risk of psychopathology for both adolescents and their mother
