Alexithymia adalah sebuah trait kepribadian yang ditandai dengan kesulitan mengidentifikasikan dan mengekspresikan emosi, serta orientasi berpikir terhadap hal-hal eksternal. Alexithymia dapat muncul akibat paparan terhadap pengalaman trauma dan telah ditemukan berhubungan dengan pengalaman childhood maltreatment. Meskipun begitu, mekanisme hubungan antara keduanya belum banyak diketahui. Penelitian ini menguji peran experiential avoidance sebagai mediator. Experiential avoidance diduga dilakukan oleh individu dengan pengalaman childhood maltreatment dan dapat mempersulit individu untuk memaknai emosinya sehingga mendukung perkembangan alexithymia. Sejumlah 558 individu emerging adults (18–29 tahun) di Indonesia telah berpartisipasi dalam kuesioner self-report dan mengisi alat ukur TAS-20, AAQ-II, dan CTQ-SF. Analisis mediasi sederhana dilakukan menggunakan PROCESS dengan mengontrol jenis kelamin dan tingkat pendidikan partisipan. Hasil analisis mediasi menemukan bahwa experiential avoidance secara signifikan memediasi hubungan antara childhood maltreatment dan alexithymia. Hubungan langsung antara childhood maltreatment dan alexithymia tetap signifikan, sehingga peran mediasi experiential avoidance hanya bersifat parsial. Penelitian ini mengimplikasikan bahwa individu dengan pengalaman childhood maltreatment dan memiliki trait alexithymia dapat mendapatkan manfaat dari mereduksi experiential avoidance dengan meningkatkan psychological flexibility.

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Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulty in identifying and expressing emotions, as well as externally-oriented thinking. Alexithymia can arise as a result of exposure to traumatic experiences and has been found to be associated with experiences of childhood maltreatment. However, the mechanism of the relationship between the two is not well understood. This study examines the role of experiential avoidance as a mediator. Experiential avoidance is hypothesized to be practiced by individuals with experiences of childhood maltreatment and can make it difficult for individuals to understand their emotions, thereby supporting the development of alexithymia. A total of 558 emerging adults (18–29 years) in Indonesia participated in a self-report questionnaire and completed the TAS-20, AAQ-II, and CTQ-SF. Simple mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS while controlling for participants' gender and education level. The mediation analysis results found that experiential avoidance significantly mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and alexithymia. The direct relationship between childhood maltreatment and alexithymia remained significant, indicating that the mediation role of experiential avoidance was only partial. This study implies that individuals with experiences of childhood maltreatment and who possess the trait of alexithymia could benefit from reducing experiential avoidance by increasing psychological flexibility.