Mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between parental disapproval of the child and alexithymic personality

Table 1 Descriptive statistics of participants

Characteristics	Frequency, n	Percentage
Sex
Female	200	49.50
Male	204	50.50
Mother’s education level
Primary school	59	14.60
Middle school	130	32.18
High school	146	36.14
University	69	17.08
Father’s education level
Primary school	19	4.70
Middle school	122	30.20
High school	180	44.55
University	83	20.55

Table 2 Descriptive statistics of participants’ scores obtained from the Disapproving Environment Scale in Childhood, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Variables	n	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	SD
DESC
Mother form	404	15.00	68.00	43.34	14.23
Father form	404	28.00	67.00	42.50	10.61
Chaotic family	404	1.00	5.00	2.68	1.25
Approving family	404	1.00	5.00	2.69	0.93
Perfect family	404	1.00	5.00	2.43	1.00
Typical family	404	1.00	5.00	2.74	0.76
TAS
Alexithymia	404	21.00	96.00	55.40	16.04
Difficulty recognizing emotions	404	7.00	34.00	19.04	6.28
Difficulty expressing emotions	404	5.00	24.00	15.30	4.26
Extroverted thinking	404	9.00	42.00	23.92	7.30
RSES
Self-esteem	404	10.00	37.00	21.19	8.51

DESC: Disapproving Environment Scale in Childhood; RSES: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; SD: Standard deviation; TAS: Toronto Alexithymia Scale.

Table 3 Maternal disapproval in childhood (predictor), alexithymia (predicted), and self-esteem (mediator) model

P value test	Predictors	Predicted variable	β	t	P value
Model	Maternal disapproval in childhood	Alexithymia	0.51	11.99	0.000
Model	Maternal disapproval in childhood	Alexithymia	0.17	2.86	0.004
	Self-esteem		-0.45	-7.49	0.000
Hayes’ bootstrap	β = 0.35, boot SE = 0.02, 95%CI: 0.30-0.41, R2 = 0.35

CI: Confidence interval.

Table 4 Paternal disapproval in childhood (predictor), alexithymia (predicted), and self-esteem (mediator) model

P value test	Predictors	Predicted variable	β	t	P value
Model	Paternal disapproval in childhood	Alexithymia	0.52	12.34	0.000
Model	Paternal disapproval in childhood	Alexithymia	0.24	4.54	0.004
	Self-esteem		-0.42	-7.91	0.000
Hayes’ bootstrap	β = 0.21, boot SE = 0.02, 95%CI: 0.17-0.25, R2 = 0.37

CI: Confidence interval.

Table 5 Chaotic family life (predictor), alexithymia (predicted), and self-esteem (mediator) model

P value test	Predictors	Predicted variable	β	t	P value
Model	Chaotic family life	Alexithymia	0.33	6.92	0.000
Model	Chaotic family life	Alexithymia	-0.04	-0.80	0.421
	Self-esteem		-0.61	-11.97	0.000
Hayes’ bootstrap	β = 0.03, boot SE = 0.01, 95%CI: 0.02-0.03, R2 = 0.34

CI: Confidence interval.

Table 6 Approving family life (predictor), alexithymia (predicted), and self-esteem (mediator) model

P value test	Predictors	Predicted variable	β	t	P value
Model	Approving family life	Alexithymia	-0.43	6.92	0.000
Model	Approving family life	Alexithymia	-0.17	-4.01	0.000
	Self-esteem		-0.53	-12.74	0.000
Hayes’ bootstrap	β = -0.01, boot SE = 0.00, 95%CI: -0.01 to -0.02, R2 = 0.37

CI: Confidence interval.

Table 7 Perfect family life (predictor), alexithymia (predicted), and self-esteem (mediator) model

P value test	Predictors	Predicted variable	β	t	P value
Model	Perfect family life	Alexithymia	-0.27	-5.52	0.000
Model	Perfect family life	Alexithymia	-0.01	-0.11	0.000
	Self-esteem		-0.58	-12.81	0.000
Hayes’ bootstrap	β = -0.02, boot SE = 0.00, 95%CI: -0.02 to -0.01, R2 = 0.34

CI: Confidence interval.