The predictive role of alexithymia in the development of students’ maladaptation during the first year of the Russian–Ukrainian war

Abstract

Objective

To assess the predictive significance of alexithymia regarding the risk of developing adjustment disorder among students continuing face-to-face education under conditions of full-scale war.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey of 445 Ukrainian university students was conducted between April and December 2022. Participants completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and Adjustment Disorder New Module-8 (ADNM-8). Based on ADNM-8 scores, students were categorised into an adjustment disorder group (n = 228) and a control group (n = 217). Two logistic regression models were constructed to assess the predictive significance of total alexithymia score and individual subscale scores.

Results

Alexithymia was identified in 41.3% of participants and was significantly more prevalent among females (44.9% vs 25.6%; p < .001) and in the adjustment disorder group (54.4% vs 27.6%; p < .001). Difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) demonstrated the strongest correlation with adjustment disorder indicators (r = 0.460; p < .001) and was the sole significant predictor in the multivariate model (OR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.097–1.19).

Conclusions

DIF is the strongest alexithymic predictor of adjustment disorder in wartime students. Findings support implementing targeted alexithymia screening in student mental health programmes and developing interventions focused on emotional literacy as a protective factor for psychological adaptation under extreme conditions.