Chinese version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire:psychometric properties and clinical applications

Background The alexithymia trait is of high clinical interest.The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire(PAQ)was recently developed to enable detailed facet-level and valence-specific assessments of alexithymia.Aims In this paper,we introduce the first Chinese version of the PAQ and examine its psychometric properties and clinical applications.Methods In Study 1,the PAQ was administered to 990 Chinese participants.We examined its factor structure,internal consistency,test-retest reliability,as well as convergent,concurrent and discriminant validity.In Study 2,four groups,including a major depressive disorder(MDD)group(n=50),a matched healthy control group for MDD(n=50),a subclinical depression group(n=50)and a matched healthy control group for subclinical depression(n=50),were recruited.Group comparisons were conducted to assess the clinical relevance of the PAQ.Results In Study 1,the intended five-factor structure of the PAQ was found to fit the data well.The PAQ showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability,as well as good convergent,concurrent and discriminant validity.In Study 2,the PAQ was able to successfully distinguish the MDD group and the subclinical depression group from their matched healthy controls.Conclusions The Chinese version of the PAQ is a valid and reliable instrument for comprehensively assessing alexithymia in the general population and adults with clinical/subclinical depression.

Influence of preterm birth on the association between gestational diabetes mellitus and childhood developmental vulnerability:a causal mediation analysis

Background Epidemiological studies examining the direct and indirect effects of gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM)on offspring early childhood developmental vulnerability are lacking.Therefore,the aims of this study were to estimate the direct and indirect effects of GDM(through preterm birth)on early childhood developmental vulnerability.Methods We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study on the association between gestational diabetes mellitus and early childhood developmental vulnerability in children born in Western Australia(WA)using maternal,infant and birth records from the Midwives Notification,Hospitalizations,Developmental Anomalies,and the Australian Early Development Census(AEDC)databases.We used two aggregated outcome measures:developmentally vulnerable on at least one AEDC domain(DV1)and developmentally vulnerable on at least two AEDC domains(DV2).Causal mediation analysis was applied to estimate the natural direct(NDE),indirect(NIE),and total(TE)effects as relative risks(RR).Results In the whole cohort(n=64,356),approximately 22%were classified as DV1 and 11%as DV2 on AEDC domains.Estimates of the natural direct effect suggested that children exposed to GDM were more likely to be classified as DV1(RR=1.20,95%CI:1.10-1.31)and DV2(RR=1.34,95%CI:1.19-1.50)after adjusting for potential confounders.About 6%and 4%of the effect of GDM on early childhood developmental vulnerability was mediated by preterm birth for DV1 and DV2,respectively.Conclusion Children exposed to gestational diabetes mellitus were more likely to be developmentally vulnerable in one or more AEDC domains.The biological mechanism for these associations is not well explained by mediation through preterm birth.