Alexithymia and Loneliness in Women with Endometriosis. Testing the Factorial Structure of the Italian Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-30) and a Mediation Model.

Francesca Gioia, Anna Parola, Valentina Boursier
Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2023 · vol. 20(5) , pp. 442–452 · doi:10.36131/cnfioritieditore20230506 · PMID:38106818 · W4389900032
article OA: green CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study validated the Italian EHP-30 and found that alexithymia impacts women's quality of life in endometriosis indirectly through feelings of loneliness.

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Abstract

Objective: Endometriosis is a pathological condition characterized by endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, chronic inflammatory reaction, and pelvic pain that dramatically decrease women's health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Furthermore, this invisible and difficultly diagnosable disease might lead women to experience alexithymia, loneliness, and consequent impairment of perceived quality of life. Firstly, the present study aimed at validating the Italian EHP-30 version which is the most used specific questionnaire for HRQoL measurement. Secondly, the present study aimed at exploring the still understudied relationship between alexithymia and HRQoL in endometriosis conditions, evaluating the mediating role of perceived loneliness. Method: A total of 435 women with endometriosis (mean age=35.75 years) have been involved. All items were loaded on their own factors. Results: The measure showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α ranged between 0.60-0.95 for core and 0.74-0.94 for modular parts). The Italian EHP-30 is a psychometrically valid measure of HRQoL with endometriosis. The tested mediation model provided adequate goodness-of-fit indices (χ2 (51) = 206.071; p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.084; 90%CI: 0.072, 0.096, CFI = .933, SRMR= 0.058), showing that alexithymia only indirectly affected women's perceived HRQoL, via the mediating effect of feelings of loneliness. Conclusions: The current study highlighted the pivotal role of perceived loneliness in directly affecting women's quality of life and mediating the effect of the alexithymic experiences.

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Outcome instruments

EHP-30

Condition tags

endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (53)

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