Role of Alexithymia in Predicting Self-Efficacy in Academic Students of a North Indian Institution: A Cross Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Alexithymia is a cognitive-affective style and a personality construct that is associated with various physical and psychological disorders. It refers to a personality trait associated with difficulties with identifying or describing feelings, mental imaging and fantasy, and external cognitive orientation AIM: To access the problem of alexithymia among the Academic (Dental and Ayurvedic) students of an Institution in North India. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was carried out among the medical students of D.J. Group of Institutions, Modinagar, Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board, Modinagar and informed consent was obtained from all the study participants prior to the study. RESULTS: The questionnaire based study was carried out among 252 medical students of D.J. Group of Institutions, Modinagar, Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Out of which 113 students were of Ayurveda and 139 were dental students. The inter group comparison of respondents according to course of study in which majority of the Ayurveda students were having significant result for the alexithymia problem. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that alexithymia plays significant role in decreasing self-efficacy in academic students. As alexithymia is high in college students and affects self-regulation, goal orientation, and academic function, we suggest that mental physicians routinely evaluate medical college students for alexithymia.