ALEXITHYMIA, BURDEN AND EMOTIONAL STATE IN ALS’ CAREGIVERS

Introduction: Living with a progressively disease such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has a strong impact on the people affected and on their relatives, who have to tackle the demanding duties of caring for and assisting them (Tramonti et al., 2014). Although an extensive literature documents the levels of distress among caregivers of patients with progressive illness, less attention has been directed to determinants of caregiver mood and emotional regulation (Rabkin et al., 2009). In particular, there are not studies that assess the role of alexithymia in ALS. We evaluated the relationship between alexithymia and burden, and psychopatological symptoms in ALS’caregivers. Methods: 17…