ArticleScientific reports2026
Alexithymia and clinical communication competence in nursing interns in China with the mediating role of self-efficacy.
Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Alexithymia in nurses: a context-specific concept analysis using rodgers's evolutionary methodology.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Alexithymia of nursing students in higher vocational college: application of latent profile analysis and network analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Effective communication is a critical professional competency for nursing interns, which needs to be systematically developed in clinical education. Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying, describing, and understanding one's own emotions. This cross-sectional study examined the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between alexithymia and clinical communication competence among 216 nursing interns, with 208 valid responses (96.3% response rate). Using standardized measures (Toronto Alexithymia Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Clinical Communication Competence Assessment Scale), results revealed elevated alexithymia levels (55.48 ± 10.31) alongside moderate self-efficacy (28.21 ± 4.64) and communication competence (84.67 ± 10.66). Spearman analysis demonstrated significant negative correlations between alexithymia and both self-efficacy (P < 0.05) and communication competence (P < 0.05), while self-efficacy was strongly and positively associated with all communication subdomains: relationship-building, active listening, problem identification, and affective validation (P < 0.01). Structural equation modeling identified self-efficacy as a partial mediator between externally oriented thinking (a core alexithymia component) and communication competencies, with mediation effects ranging from - 0.061 to - 0.099 (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that enhanced self-efficacy may mitigate alexithymia's detrimental effects on communication skill development. The study provides empirical evidence for implementing dual-focused educational strategies targeting alexithymia reduction and self-efficacy enhancement in nursing curricula. Such interventions could optimize trainees' clinical communication capacities while supporting psychological adaptation to healthcare environments, ultimately contributing to improved patient care outcomes and professional well-being.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.