The Effects of Early Parental Death and Grief on Interpersonal Functioning and Alexithymia in Adults

Background: Empirical evidence suggests that individuals who have experienced the death of a parent early in life endorse interpersonal difficulties in adulthood. However, little is known about the underlying experiences that may lead to such distress. The current study examined whether individuals who experienced early parental death would endorse greater levels of alexithymia than individuals raised in intact families, and whether early parental death and interpersonal distress were linked through alexithymia and grief.

Methods: A total of 160 participants in a parental death group and 183 in a comparison group completed self-report measures online. Statistical analyses were conducted using ANCOVA, mediation analysis, and regression.

Results: We observed that the parental death group reported greater levels of alexithymia than the comparison group. Second, alexithymia mediated the relationship between early parent death and global interpersonal distress. Third, greater levels of complicated grief were related to greater levels of alexithymic traits in the parental death group.

Conclusion: Results suggest that early parental death results in higher levels of alexithymic traits. Furthermore, alexithymia indirectly leads to interpersonal distress in this population. Finally, the link discovered between grief and alexithymia has important clinical implications.