This study aims to test the mediating effect of psychological distress and bullying victimization on the relationship between alexithymia and fibromyalgia (FM) among school adolescents.

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 9–12 who were recruited randomly using multistrategic sampling technique.

Findings

The analysis showed that alexithymia was a significant predictor of FM (odds ratio [OR] = 1.065). Psychological distress was also a significant predictor of FM; however, its mediating effect resulted in drop of OR to 1.041. The joined effect of bulling victimization and psychological distress found to be significant although OR dropped from 1.065 to 1.039.

Title

Mental Health and Social Inclusion

Publisher

Emerald Publishing Limited

Publisher Country

Ecuador

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

None

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

28

Year

2024

Pages

842-856