Alexithymia and Perceived Social Support Among a Sample of Syrian Refugee Students in Jordan

Abstract

The current study investigates the prevalence of Alexithymia, its association with gender, and the relationship between Alexithymia and perceived social support among a convenient sample of Syrian refugee students living in Jordan. The participants consisted of 169 Syrian refugee students, with 74 (43.8%) males; and 95 (56.2%) females. Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used to collect study data.
Results revealed that the prevalence of Alexithymia in Syrian refugee students is (29.0%), with 13.6% in boys, and 15.4% in girls. Chi-square tests showed no gender differences with regard to Alexithymic category group. Additionally, results indicated a statistically significant (p < 0.001), variant negative relationship by gender between scales of Alexithymia (TAS-20) and Perceived social support (MSPSS), in males, higher - Alexithymia correlated significantly with less Perceived Social Support, specifically, Sub-scale of family (FA) and significant others (SO) social support showed the highest correlation, while in females, Sub-scale of friend (FR) social support showed the highest correlation. Moreover, stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that sub-scale 1 of Family (FA) Social Support was the only predictor of Alexithymia and accounted for a proportion of unique variance 42.8 % in males Alexithymia, while in females, sub-scale 2 of Friends (FR) Social Support (MSPSS) was the unique predictor of Alexithymia and accounted for 19.4% of the variance in (TAS-20). This study highlights the significance of maternal, paternal and peers support as a possible risk factor for the development of Alexithymia among Syrian refugee male and female adolescents.