The mediating effect of psychological distress and bullying victimization on the relationship between alexithymia and fibromyalgia among school adolescents
| Date | 21 November 2023 |
| Pages | 842-856 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-09-2023-0096 |
| Published date | 21 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
| Author | Eman Alslman,Imad Thultheen,Shaher H. Hamaideh,Basema Nofal,Renad Hamdan-Mansour,Ayman Hamdan Mansour |
The mediating effect of psychological
distress and bullying victimization on the
relationship between alexithymia and
fibromyalgia among school adolescents
Eman Alslman, Imad Thultheen, Shaher H. Hamaideh, Basema Nofal,
Renad Hamdan-Mansour and Ayman Hamdan Mansour
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to test the mediating effect of psychological distress and bullying
victimizationon the relationship between alexithymiaand fibromyalgia (FM) among schooladolescents.
Design/methodology/approach –This study used cross-sectional, correlational design. Data was
collected using self-administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1,000 school adolescents at
Grade 9–12who were recruited randomly usingmultistrategic sampling technique.
Findings –The analysis showed that alexithymia was a significant predictor of FM (odds ratio [OR] ¼
1.065). Psychological distress was also a significant predictor of FM; however, its mediating effect
resultedin drop of OR to 1.041. The joined effect of bulling victimizationand psychological distress found
to be significantalthough OR dropped from 1.065 to 1.039.
Research limitations/implications –The study highlights the significant role of school health nurses
and mental health counselors to early detect and direct mental health interventions toward significant
psychologicalproblems among school adolescents.
Originality/value –I affirm this information has not been published or submitted for publication
elsewhere. All authors approve the content of the manuscript and have contributed significantly to
researchinvolved/ the writing of the manuscript.The authors affirm their commitment to transfercopyright
ownership to your journal if the manuscript is accepted for publication. The authors also affirm they will
obtain any othercopyright permission if deemed necessarywithin 30 days of acceptance for publication.
All identifying information regarding the study participants has been omitted and this study was
approved by the IRB at School of Nursing of the University of Jordan. The research conforms to the
provisionsof the Declaration of Helsinki in 1995 (as revised in Brazil,2013). All participants gave informed
consent for the research, and that their anonymity was preserved. None of the authors has financial or
personalmatters that may pose a conflict of interest.
Keywords Alexithymia, Fibromyalgia, Psychological distress, Bullying victimization, School adolescents
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic syndrome starts at early age and increasingly diagnosed
during adolescence period (Kashikar-Zuck et al.,2014). FM is attributed to a complex
interaction between genetic, neurobiological, psychological and environmental factors
(Kashikar-Zuck et al.,2014). Among the psychological factors, alexithymia is assumed to
negatively associate with FM (Kashikar-Zuck et al., 2014). Previous studies showed higher
prevalence of alexithymia in patientswith FM (Di Tella and Castelli, 2013). Studies have also
indicated that FM and alexithymia have contributed to deterioration of social and
Eman Alslman is based at
the Oklahoma City
University, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, USA. Imad
Thultheen is based at the
Faculty of Medicine and
Health Sciences, An-Najah
National University, Nablus,
Palestine. Shaher H.
Hamaideh is based at the
Community and Mental
Health Nursing, The
Hashemite University,
Zarqa, Jordan. Basema
Nofal is Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Nursing, Applied
Science Private University,
Amman, Jordan. Renad
Hamdan-Mansour is based
at the The University of
Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Ayman Hamdan Mansour is
based at the School of
Nursing, The University of
Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Since submission of this article,
the following authors have
updated their affiliations:
Basema Nofal is also at the
Faculty of Nursing,
Al-Zaytoonah University of
Jordan, Amman, Jordan and
Renad Hamdan-Mansour is
also at the Department of
Research Center, Research
Coordinator King Hussein
Centre, Amman, Jordan.
PAGE 842 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jVOL. 28 NO. 5 2024, pp. 842-856, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-09-2023-0096
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