Assessment Of Alexithymia in High School Students and Its Effective Factors

Alexithymia is a mental condition that causes difficulty in describing and identifying emotions.Despite some studies on alexithymia, there are few studies about alexithymia in an educational setting.Moreover, no studies were conducted on alexithymia in an educational setting in Iran. Based onearlier studies, alexithymia is linked with age, gender, and academic performance. However, thesetheories needed to be tested elsewhere to strengthen the previous theories and gain knowledge about apossible connection. Moreover, there were no studies worldwide about a possible link between schooltype and academic majors with alexithymia, as well as, G-DAF and G-EOT scores. This surveyresearch aimed to assess alexithymia in high schools of Mashhad, Iran, and to test the earlier claimsby other studies for the first time in Iran. This survey used Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ)and spread it among high school students, and ۵۹ respondents delivered the PAQ. The results rejectearlier claims, such as alexithymia's connection with age and gender. However, this study confirmsthe link between alexithymia and academic performance. Moreover, no connection was foundbetween alexithymia, academic majors, and school type. Regarding G-DAF and G-EOT, there was nolink between them and the variables.