Associations of Alexithymic Symptoms and Negative Affect with Symptom Severity in the Everyday Lives of Patients with Asthma or Rheumatoid Arthritis

Individual differences in alexithymic symptoms predicted average levels of symptom severity and negative affect (NA) in everyday life. Alexithymic symptoms were unrelated to symptom severity when controlling for NA, suggesting higher NA may help explain higher symptom severity reports in individuals with alexithymic symptoms.