*Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; †Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; ‡Clinic of Child Psychiatry, Oulu University and University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; and §Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere and Department of Psychiatry, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
This study aimed to examine alexithymic features and associations between alexithymia and psychiatric symptoms among adolescents living in a closed institution because of severe behavioral problems. Forty-seven adolescents (29 boys and 18 girls) aged 15 to 18 years completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) Questionnaire and the Youth Self-Report, whereas their foster parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist. The TAS-20 scores of the participants were compared with those of an extensive population sample (N = 6000) matched by age and birth year. Reform school adolescents are significantly more alexithymic than the control group, and the TAS-20 scores are correlated with numerous psychiatric problems, mainly in the internalizing spectrum, but also with thought problems and self-reported aggression. Promoting abilities in identifying and describing feelings is important when treating delinquent adolescents.