Negative urgency fully mediates the relationship between alexithymia and dysregulated behaviours

Previous research documents a relationship between alexithymia and dysregulated behaviours, but fails to explore mechanisms that may account for this relationship. The current study sought to determine whether negative urgency would mediate the relationship between alexithymia and dysregulated behaviours. We hypothesized that positive relationships would exist among alexithymia, negative urgency and dysregulated behaviours. We also hypothesized that negative urgency would mediate the relationship between alexithymia and dysregulated behaviour. Results indicated that positive correlations exist between alexithymia, negative urgency and dysregulated behaviours. Additionally, our hypothesis that negative urgency would mediate the relationship between alexithymia and dysregulated behaviour was supported. The results suggest that negative urgency may be responsible for dysregulated behaviours that are observed in those who score high on alexithymia.