Mental health research can feel straightforward at first, yet it quickly reveals substantial complexity. Diagnostic frameworks such as the DSM-5-TR offer a shared language for defining disorders, but they often fall short when it comes to comorbidity, within-category heterogeneity, and the broader processes that cut across diagnostic boundaries. For this reason, contemporary work increasingly shifts from asking how mental-health difficulties differ to identifying what they have in common. One candidate mechanism is alexithymia—difficulties identifying and describing one’s emotions. Because alexithymia may help explain a wide range of psychological difficulties, it is particularly relevant to developmental periods marked by heightened vulnerability for the onset of psychopathology. Adolescence is one such period, characterised by rapid change and challenges across multiple domains of development. This thesis addresses a gap in the Slovenian context by examining alexithymia in adolescents, focusing on how the construct is assessed and how it relates to psychopathology. The study included 255 children and adolescents aged 11–18 and 142 parents who completed questionnaires on alexithymia and adolescent mental health. Bayesian analyses indicated that parent–adolescent discrepancies in reported mental-health difficulties were associated with alexithymia, underscoring the value of integrating multiple informant perspectives. In addition, bifactor analyses showed that alexithymia was meaningfully linked to a general psychopathology factor, consistent with a transdiagnostic interpretation. Overall, the thesis provides a basis for further research on alexithymia in Slovenia, both by informing ongoing work on measurement adaptation and by clarifying its potential role in adolescent well-being.
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