The association between eveningness and alexithymia: Mediating effect of depression

Objective: The current study aims to investigate the association of morningness-eveningness with alexithymia, and examine the mediating effect of depression on this association. Methods: In total, 393 community-dwelling adults (243 females and 150 males; mean age=43.47± 14.05 years) were recruited. All participants completed self-report questionnaires including the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Results: Eveningness was independently associated with greater difficulty in identifying feelings in males, but not in females. Depression mediated the association between eveningness and difficulties in identifying and describing feelings in both males and females. Conclusion: The current study found a direct association between eveningness and alexithymia, as well as a mediating effect of depression on this association. In addition, the independent and direct association between eveningness and alexithymia was more prominent in males than females.