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We examined the prevalence of alexithymia and its associations with sociodemographic factors in a population cohort. The study forms part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. The original material consisted of all 12,058 live-born children in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu in Finland with an expected delivery date during 1966. The material represents 96% of all births in the region. In 1997, a 31-year follow-up study was conducted on a part of the initial sample. The 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was given to 5,993 subjects; 84% returned the questionnaire properly answered. It is known that alexithymia is associated with psychological distress. This was measured with the 25-item version of the Hopkins Symptom Check List (HSCL-25). The prevalence of alexithymia (TAS-20 score > 60) was 9.4% in male and 5.2% in female subjects. Alexithymia was associated with poor …