Alexithymia and academic success: examining the
transition from high school to university
James D.A. Parker a,*, Elizabeth J. Austin b
, Marjorie J. Hogan c
,
Laura M. Wood a
, Barbara J. Bond d
a
Department of Psychology, Emotion and Health Research Laboratory, Trent University, Peterborough, Ont.,
Canada K9J 7B8
b
Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9J2
c
Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto M55 1V6 Canada
d
Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Sir Sandford Fleming College, Peterborough K9J 7B1
Received 8 December 2003; received in revised form 30 June 2004; accepted 9 August 2004
Available online 5 November 2004
Abstract
The present study used the major life transition of going off to university as the context for examining the
relationship between alexithymia and academic achievement. During the first month of post-secondary
classes 707 first-year full-time students completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). At
the end of the academic year alexithymia data was matched with students academic records. Consistent
with previous research on personality and achievement, results were dependent on how academic achieve-
ment and alexithymia was operationalized. When alexithymia variables were compared in groups who had
achieved very different levels of academic achievement, success was moderately associated with alexithymia.
Results are discussed in the context of the importance of affect regulation abilities during a stressful life
transition.
Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Alexithymia; Academic achievement; Affect regulation
0191-8869/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.paid.2004.08.008
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 705 748 1011x1283; fax: +1 705 748 1580.
E-mail address: jparker@trentu.ca (J.D.A. Parker).
www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267

1. Introduction
Sifneos (1973) coined the word alexithymia to describe a constellation of behaviors he often ob-
served in individuals experiencing various psychosomatic health problems. Over the past three
decades the personality construct of alexithymia has come to be defined by the following basic
features (Taylor, 1984; Taylor, Bagby, & Parker, 1997): difficulty identifying feelings and distin-
guishing between these feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal; difficulty describ-
ing feelings to others; constricted imaginal processes; and a stimulus-bound, externally oriented,
cognitive style. In addition to these core characteristics, several related features have also been ob-
served in individuals scoring high on measures of alexithymia, such as a lower capacity for empa-
thy (Guttman & Laporte, 2002; Taylor, 1987), problems in processing emotional information
(Stone & Nielson, 2001; Suslow & Junghanns, 2002), and difficulties in identifying the facial
expressions of others (Parker, Taylor, & Bagby, 1993).
Although initially linked with individuals experiencing psychosomatic problems (De Gucht &
Heiser, 2003), alexithymia has come to be linked with a variety of mental health problems, such as
substance use disorders (Cecero & Holmstrom, 1997; Rybakowski, Ziólkowski, Zasadzka, &
Brzezinski, 1988), eating disorders (Zonnevijlle-Bender, van Goozen, Cohen-Kettenis, van El-
burg, & van Engeland, 2002), and problem gambling (Parker, Wood, Bond, & Shaughnessy, in
press). Within non-clinical populations, alexithymia has also been associated with a variety of life-
style and interpersonal problems. Kauhanen, Kaplan, Julkunen, Wilson, and Salonen (1993), for
example, using a large population-based sample of middle-aged men, found alexithymia to be
associated with being single and socially isolated. Kokkonen, Karvonen, Veijola, Laeksy, and
Jokelainen (2001) found a similar pattern of results in a younger population-based sample. Alexi-
thymia has also been associated with the quality of interpersonal relationships. In a study explor-
ing attachment styles in young men, Troisi, DArgenio, Peracchio, and Petti (2001) found that
alexithymia was associated with insecure attachment, independent of the severity of current levels
of distress. Among individuals with insecure attachment styles, they also found that those with
preoccupied or fearful patterns had higher levels of alexithymia than individuals with a dismissing
pattern. Helmers and Mente (1999), also using a sample of young men, found alexithymia to be
associated with maladaptive health behaviors like poor nutritional consumption and a sedentary
lifestyle--maladaptive behaviors that continue to be associated with alexithymia in older adults
(Waldstein, Kauhanen, Neumann, & Katzel, 2002).
An important explanation for the link between alexithymia and the various negative outcome
variables described above is that individuals scoring high on measures of alexithymia possess a
limited range of affect regulating abilities (Taylor et al., 1997). As one consequence, individuals
scoring high on measures of alexithymia do not cope well with stress (Parker, Taylor, & Bagby,
1998). For example, since ``alexithymic'' individuals typically have problems identifying and
understanding their emotions, as well as communicating these experiences, they are less likely
to turn to others for support. Nor are they likely to regulate feelings of distress via daydreams
or other imaginative mental activities. Carpenter and Addis (2000), in a study examining the cop-
ing behavior of individuals experiencing depressive symptoms, found that alexithymia was nega-
tively associated with the likelihood that the individual would seek social support from friends or
family, or even think about the reasons for their mood problems. A similar pattern of non-adap-
tive coping behaviors has been reported in individuals experiencing a variety of other health
1258 J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267

problems (see, for example, Deary, Scott, & Wilson, 1997; Nordby, Ekeberg, Knardahl, & Os,
1995). This maladaptive pattern of coping has also been found when studying other types of
stressful situations. Fukunishi, Berger, Wogan, and Kuboki (1999), studying a sample of expatri-
ates adjusting to life in a new country, found alexithymia to be associated with the perception of
being socially isolated, being dissatisfied with life in the new country, and a perception that the
individual had been happier prior to departure from their home country.
The cross-sectional nature of much of the previous research on alexithymia and stressful situ-
ations limits our understanding about this important relationship. Alexithymia is typically as-
sessed within or immediately following a stressful situation (e.g., coping with a specific illness),
or at the same point in time as the critical outcome variables (e.g., employment or marital status).
For example, although often reported in the literature that alexithymia is associated with social
isolation and lower social success (Kauhanen et al., 1993; Kokkonen et al., 2001), the cross-sec-
tional nature of most of this work limits our understanding of the direction of this relationship.
We do not know if the poor interpersonal abilities associated with alexithymia have had a nega-
tive influence on the individuals social success, or whether being socially isolated and experiencing
socioeconomic difficulties generates alexithymic symptomatology.
The present study sought to extend our knowledge about alexithymia by studying the impact of
this variable on a major life transition. The transition from high school to university is a partic-
ularly stressful situation for most young adults (Brooks & DuBois, 1995; Gall, Evans, & Bellerose,
2000; Kanoy & Bruhn, 1996; McLaughlin, Brozovsky, & McLaughlin, 1998; Perry, Hladkyj, Pek-
run, & Pelletier, 2001; Ross, Niebling, & Heckert, 1999). Students making this transition face a
variety of stressors: modifying existing relationships with parents, family, and friends (e.g., living
apart), making new relationships, and learning study habits for the new academic environment.
They must also learn to function as independent adults (e.g., budgeting time and money). It is
the failure to master these types of tasks and challenges, rather than intellectual ability, which
is the more common reason reported by post-secondary students for withdrawing from their insti-
tutions (Blanc, DeBuhr, & Martin, 1983; Gerdes & Mallinckrodt, 1994). An important indicator
of the stress of this transition is the common observation in Canada and the United States that the
majority of high school students who go on to post-secondary institutions withdraw before grad-
uation (Gerdes & Mallinckrodt, 1994; Pancer, Hunsberger, Pratt, & Alisat, 2000). The greatest
proportions of these students drop out in the first year (Gerdes & Mallinckrodt, 1994).
There is some evidence in the academic achievement literature to suggest that success in making
the transition to a post-secondary environment is linked with emotional competency. For exam-
ple, in a recent study examining the transition from high school to university, Parker, Summer-
feldt, Hogan, and Majeski (2004) found that various emotional and social competencies were
predictors of academic success. They used a measure of emotional intelligence (Bar-On, 1997) that
has been found to be associated with alexithymia (Parker, Taylor, & Bagby, 2001). At the start of
the academic term a sample of first-year (full-time) students completed the short form of the Emo-
tional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i: Short; Bar-On, 2002). At the end of the academic year the EQ-i:
Short data was matched with students academic records. Parker et al. (2004) found that academ-
ically successful students had significantly higher levels of several different emotional and social
competencies than less successful students. These results have also been replicated in several inde-
pendent samples of American post-secondary students making the transition from high-school
(Parker, Duffy, Wood, Bond, & Hogan, in press).
J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267 1259

The present study examined whether alexithymia predicts academic success in young adults
making the transition to a post-secondary environment. Since previous research on academic suc-
cess has found that the choice of operational definition for this variable can lead to quite different
outcomes (Parker et al., 2004), the present study examined various definitions of success. For
example, although academic success may correlate low or non-significantly with specific predictor
variables when success is operationalized as a continuous variable (e.g., GPA for the academic
year), the same variables may be quite good predictors when academic success is operationalized
as a categorical variable (e.g., comparing honors students vs. students on academic probation or
comparing students persisting with their studies vs. students who have withdrawn).
2. Method
2.1. Participants
The sample consisted of 707 young adults (151 men and 556 women) attending a small Ontario
university. All of the students had graduated from high school within the past two years and were
in their first-year of full-time study at the university. Full-time status was defined as completion of
at least the equivalent of 3.5 full-year courses during the academic year. Part-time students, or
students who were beyond their first year of study at the university, were excluded from the sam-
ple. The mean age of participants was 19.38 years (SD = 0.83). 1
Eighty-nine percent of the par-
ticipants identified themselves as White, 1.4% as Black, 4.1% as Asian, 2.3% as Native American,
and 3.2% did not indicate their race.
2.2. Measures and procedures
Participants were recruited from a large psychology class and asked if they would volunteer to
participate in a study on ``personality and academic success''. In September, at the start of the
academic year, participants completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; Bagby,
Parker, & Taylor, 1994) as part of a questionnaire package at the end of a regularly scheduled
class. The TAS-20 is a widely used self-report measure of alexithymia with well established psy-
chometric properties (Parker, Taylor, & Bagby, 2003; Taylor, Bagby, & Parker, 2003). The TAS-
20 uses a 5-point Likert rating scale to assess three factors: difficulty identifying feelings (DIF);
difficulty describing feelings (DDF); and externally oriented thinking (EOT). These three factors
are added to determine overall level of alexithymia. Individuals with an overall TAS-20 score of
651 can be considered ``non-alexithymic'' (72.44% of the present sample); individuals with an
overall score of P61 can be considered ``alexithymic'' (10.9% of the present sample). The two
groups were not significantly different with respect to high school GPA, age, or course load.
A sub-set of participants (N = 464), as part of a separate study, also completed the Positive and
Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) at the end of a regularly
scheduled class (one week after completing the TAS-20). The PANAS data will allow for the
1
At the time the data was collected students in Province of Ontario could graduate from high school after grade 12
or grade 13.
1260 J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267

potential confounding effects of mood state to be taken into account. In some previous research
with the TAS-20, alexithymia has been found to be associated with depressed mood and negative
affect (e.g., Hintikka, Honkalampi, Lehtonen, & Viinamaeki, 2001; Lundh & Simonsson-Sar-
necki, 2001)--variables that have been found to reduce cognitive functioning (Austin, Mitchell,
& Goodwin, 2001). The PANAS contains a 10-item negative affect (NA) sub-scale as well as a
10-item positive affect (PA) sub-scale. High NA reflects negative mood states such as feeling
``guilty'', ``hostile'', or ``nervous'', while high PA reflects moods states such as feeling ``interested'',
``excited'' or ``inspired''. Ratings are made on 5-point Likert scales with participants instructed to
indicate how they have been feeling during the past week.
Students who participated in the study were informed that the researchers would be tracking
their academic progress at the university. In June, after final marks for the entire academic year
had been processed by the Universitys registrars office, alexithymia scores were matched with
students academic records (grade-point-average for the entire academic year). Graduating high
school GPAs were also available for the majority of students (N = 664). In order to compare levels
of alexithymia in successful and less successful first-year students, academic records were used to
identify two groups of students: academically successful students (defined as a GPA above 79%)
and academically unsuccessful students (defined as a GPA below 60%). For the students partic-
ipating in the study, the GPA values used to identify groups had several implications. Students
in the successful group made the Deans Honor roll (and noted on their university transcript); stu-
dents in the unsuccessful group were ``rusticated'' (and would be asked to withdraw from univer-
sity if their GPA in the second year remains below 60%). There were 105 students (14.9% of the
sample) in the successful group (21 men and 84 women) and 98 students (13.9% of the sample) in
the non-successful group (28 men and 70 women). The two groups were not significantly different
with respect to high school GPA, age, or course load.
3. Results
3.1. Total sample
Table 1 presents the correlations amongst high school grade point average, first year grade
point average and TAS-20 scores for the whole sample and for males and females separately. It
can be seen that the males and females show a similar correlation pattern. Low or non-significant
correlations were found between GPA (first year or high school GPA) and the various variables
from the TAS-20. For the sub-set of students who also completed the PANAS, negative affect was
not found to associated with either high-school GPA, first-year GPA, or total TAS-20 (r was
0.02, 0.04, and 0.08 respectively); a similar pattern of low correlations was also found for pos-
itive affect (r was 0.03, 0.04, and 0.12 respectively).
In order to examine the associations among alexithymia and academic success in more detail,
regression models with first year GPA as the outcome variable were examined. Model 1 used gen-
der, high-school GPA and the TAS-20 full-scale score as predictors; Model 2 used gender, high-
school GPA and the three TAS-20 sub-scales as predictors. The results are shown in Table 2 and
show that high-school GPA, TAS-20 full-scale score and the two TAS-20 sub-scales of difficulty
identifying feelings and externally oriented thinking were significant predictors of first-year GPA.
J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267 1261

3.2. Successful vs. unsuccessful students
As in previous work on determinants of academic success (Parker et al., 2004), it is also of inter-
est to examine the differences between the successful and unsuccessful groups in more detail. Table
3 shows the mean TAS-20 scores for the successful and unsuccessful groups for the combined
sample and for males and females separately. A series of ANOVAs was performed with gender
and success group as factors. A significant main effect of gender was found for difficulty describing
feelings [F(1,199) = 4.07, p = 0.045]. There were significant main effects of success group for total
TAS score [F(1,199) = 14.05, p < 0.001], difficulty describing feelings [F(1,199) = 4.31, p = 0.039],
difficulty identifying feelings [F(1,199) = 6.59, p = 0.011] and externally oriented thinking
Table 1
Correlations among high-school GPA, first-year GPA, and TAS-20
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
Total Sample (N = 707)
1. HGPA ­
2. GPA 0.24**
­
3. DIF 0.01 0.14**
­
4. DDF 0.04 0.13**
0.59**
­
5. EOT 0.07 0.21**
0.24**
0.48**
­
6. Total TAS 0.05 0.21**
0.80**
0.86**
0.70**
­
Mean 77.67 69.85 13.96 12.13 18.26 44.35
SD 6.14 10.84 5.81 4.68 4.88 12.11
Men (N = 151)
1. HGPA ­
2. GPA 0.25*
­
3. DIF 0.07 0.10 ­
4. DDF 0.02 0.04 0.61**
­
5. EOT 0.12 0.14 0.27*
0.44**
­
6. Total TAS 0.01 0.12 0.83**
0.86**
0.68**
­
Mean 76.38 67.66 14.23 13.31 19.56 47.10
SD 6.31 12.47 5.61 4.75 4.44 11.75
Women (N = 556)
1. HGPA ­
2. GPA 0.23**
­
3. DIF 0.03 0.16**
­
4. DDF 0.04 0.15*
0.59**
­
5. EOT 0.03 0.22**
0.23**
0.48**
­
6. Total TAS 0.04 0.22**
0.80**
0.86**
0.70**
­
Mean 78.03 70.45 13.89 11.80 17.91 43.60
SD 6.05 10.28 5.86 4.61 4.94 12.12
Note: Sample sizes for correlations in the range 664­707 for the whole sample, 143­151 for men, 521­556 for women.
HGPA, high school grade point average; GPA, first year grade point average; TAS, Toronto alexithymia scale total;
DIF, difficulty identifying feelings; DDF, difficulty describing feelings; EOT, externally oriented thinking.
*
p < 0.01.
**
p < 0.001.
1262 J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267

[F(1,199) = 17.28, p < 0.001]; as can be seen from Table 3, these results correspond to the unsuc-
cessful group having higher mean scores for total TAS-20 and for the TAS-20 sub-scales. There
were no significant gender-success group interactions. For the sub-set of participants who com-
pleted the PANAS, the successful (N = 37) and unsuccessful (N = 64) groups were not signifi-
cantly different on the positive or negative affect scales (p > .05).
3.3. Alexithymic vs. non-alexithymic students
A gender by alexithymia group (non-alexithymic vs. alexithymic) ANOVA with first-year GPA
as the dependent variable found that the main effect for gender and the interaction were not sig-
nificant. However, the non-alexithymic (M = 70.61, SD = 10.28) and alexithymic (M = 66.23,
Table 2
Regression of gender, high-school GPA, and TAS-20 as predictors of first-year GPA
Standardised regression coefficient t
Model 1. Gender, high school GPA and TAS-20 scores as predictors of GPA
Female gender 0.06 1.66
HGPA 0.23**
6.13
TAS-20 0.19**
5.12
Model 2. Gender, high-school GPA and TAS-20 sub-scales as predictors of first-year GPA
Female gender 0.06 1.67
HGPA 0.23**
6.09
DIF 0.14*
3.10
DDF 0.06 1.28
EOT 0.19**
4.54
Note: R2
adjusted  9:8% for Model 1, 10.9% for Model 2. HGPA, high school grade point average; GPA, first year grade
point average; TAS-20, Toronto alexithymia scale total; DIF, difficulty identifying feelings; DDF, difficulty describing
feelings; EOT, externally oriented thinking.
*
p < 0.01.
**
p < 0.001.
Table 3
Means and standard deviations of TAS-20 scores by success group
Group N Total mean (SD) DIF mean (SD) DDF mean (SD) EOT mean (SD)
Total sample
Unsuccessful 98 47.68 (12.98) 15.14 (6.81) 12.93 (4.91) 19.61 (5.13)
Successful 105 39.52 (11.41) 12.54 (4.76) 10.92 (4.88) 16.06 (4.76)
Men
Unsuccessful 28 49.36 (11.52) 15.00 (6.30) 13.82 (4.62) 20.54 (4.50)
Successful 21 42.48 (12.72) 12.71 (4.99) 12.52 (5.70) 17.24 (4.81)
Female
Unsuccessful 70 47.01 (13.54) 15.20 (7.05) 12.57 (5.00) 19.24 (5.34)
Successful 84 38.79 (11.01) 12.50 (4.73) 10.52 (4.61) 15.76 (4.73)
Note: TAS-20; Toronto alexithymia scale total; DIF, difficulty identifying feelings; DDF, difficulty describing feelings;
EOT, externally oriented thinking.
J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267 1263

SD = 15.06) groups differed significantly on GPA [F(1,585) = 5.04, p = .02]. Analyses also re-
vealed that the proportion of alexithymic and non-alexithymic individuals falling into the three
different academic success groups were significantly different [v2
= 6.50, df = 2, p = .04]. For the
non-alexithymic group, the proportions for unsuccessful, moderately successful, and successful
were 12.3%, 71.1%, and 16.6% respectively; for the alexithymic group the proportions were
15.5%, 77.9%, and 6.5% respectively. For the sub-set of participants who completed the PANAS,
the alexithymic (N = 48) and non-alexithymic (N = 332) groups were not significantly different on
the positive or negative affect scales (p > .05).
4. Discussion
As expected, alexithymia was found to be linked with students making the successful transition
from high school to first-year university. Although alexithymia groups did not differ on high
school GPA, the non-alexithymic group performed significantly better in their first-year of study
than the alexithymic group. The two groups also differed in the proportion of students having a
``successful'' or ``unsuccessful'' first-year. For example, only 6.5% of the alexithymic students
ended up on the Deans Honor Roll (GPA of 80% or better), compared to 16.6% of the non-alexi-
thymic students. The results for the different achievement groups also revealed a significant rela-
tionship with alexithymia. Although the two groups did not differ on high school GPA, highly
successful students (those who achieved a first-year university GPA of 80% or better) scored sig-
nificantly lower on total TAS-20, as well as all three sub-scales, compared to unsuccessful students
(those who received a first-year GPA of 59% or less). The results of the present study are very
similar to those reported by Parker et al. (2004) and Parker et al. (in press), who found that var-
ious emotional and social competencies were good predictors of academic achievement in samples
of Canadian and American first-year students.
The finding of a relationship between alexithymia and academic achievement is not surprising,
given the variety of stressors involved in a major life transition like going to university (Ross et al.,
1999), and the poor coping strategies habitually used by individuals scoring high on measures of
alexithymia (Carpenter & Addis, 2000; Parker et al., 1998). First-year students face a variety of
new personal and interpersonal challenges (Brooks & DuBois, 1995; Gall et al., 2000; Kanoy &
Bruhn, 1996; McLaughlin et al., 1998; Perry et al., 2001). Along with the need to make new rela-
tionships, they must modify existing relationships with friends and family, as well as learn new
study habits for an academic environment that typically involves more independence than was
experienced in high school (Ross et al., 1999).
The overall finding of a link between alexithymia and academic achievement is at odds with the
overall conclusions of several recent studies (Barchard, 2003; Newsome, Day, & Catano, 2000;
OConnor & Little, 2003) where weak or non-significant relationships were found between aca-
demic achievement and emotional intelligence--a variable with considerable conceptual overlap
with alexithymia (Parker et al., 2001; Saklofske, Austin, & Minski, 2003). The discrepancy in cen-
tral findings is likely due to important methodological differences between the various studies.
Predicting academic achievement often produces divergent results depending on how achievement
is operationalized (Parker et al., 2004). In Barchard (2003), Newsome et al. (2000) and OConnor
and Little (2003) both emotional intelligence and academic achievement were treated only as
1264 J.D.A. Parker et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1257­1267

continuous variables. In the present study, when both alexithymia and achievement were treated
as continuous variables, alexithymia was found to be a relatively poor predictor of first year uni-
versity achievement (although it was found to be about as powerful a predictor as high-school
GPA). Several other methodological differences may have also contributed to the divergent pat-
tern of results. The other researchers used very heterogeneous samples of students. These
researchers either combined first-year students with students in more advanced years of study,
full-time students with part-time, or young adults with mature students. Since age and course load
are potential confounds, the present study focused directly on young adults making the transition
from high school to full-time study at university.
One limitation of the present study is that academic achievement was assessed for only a single
academic year. Future research needs to examine the long-term effects of alexithymia on achieve-
ment. Additional research might also want to investigate a broader range of indicators for aca-
demic success than just GPA. A recent study on the relationship between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement in a group of high school students (Petrides, Frederickson,
& Furnham, 2004) found that the former variable was differentially associated with educational
subjects (better for predicting success on comprehensive exams in English than for Math or Sci-
ences). Therefore, other indicators might include the number of or type of courses completed,
along with the number of courses dropped or not completed, and whether a student persists or
withdraws from an institution.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by research grants to the first author from the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Ontario Governments Premiers Re-
search Excellence Award program, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), as well
as an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) to the fourth author. The authors would like to thank
Jennifer Eastabrook, Cheryl Foster, Sarah Majeski, and Amber Oke for their help.
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