Mindfulness study reports improvements in alexithymia and related symptoms
Researchers used symptom connections to design an intervention targeting anxiety and stress. Participating students improved more than an untreated group on several outcomes.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Students receiving the targeted mindfulness intervention showed greater improvements in alexithymia and several related emotional and cognitive symptoms than students receiving no treatment. Most changes persisted at follow-up. The findings are preliminary and specific to this student sample; they do not establish that targeting the identified symptom connections was the reason participants improved.
This abstract-based account lacks effect sizes and confidence intervals. The abstract does not identify which improvements failed to persist, and an untreated comparison cannot isolate the contribution of the intervention's specific ingredients.
What researchers found
Alexithymia and related symptoms
Mindfulness versus no treatment after 8 weeks; most changes remained at 1-month follow-up. Effect sizes and measurement scales are not reported.
Connections guided intervention design
The initial network analysis identified anxiety and stress as symptoms connecting alexithymia with its accompanying features. Researchers then designed mindfulness sessions around those connections. Identifying a connection does not establish that it is an underlying cause.
Several outcomes moved together
Reported improvements included depression, anxiety and stress, alongside alexithymia, boredom proneness and intolerance of uncertainty. Because the comparison group received no treatment, the abstract cannot distinguish effects of the targeted content from broader effects of participating.
The original publication
Identifying bridge symptoms in the alexithymia comorbidity network among Chinese college students and evaluating the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention through a randomized controlled trial.
Song Z, Liang S, Liu S et al.
J Affect Disord · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41151728
- Record checked
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