Two-way chi-squared and Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z test were used to analyze differences between groups, respectively, for N × N contingency tables and dimensional measures. Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients were reported as measures of associations among the TAS total scores, TAS sub-scales, SCL-90, along with any significantly modified connections between ROIs. Due to the strong relationship between alexithymia and psychopathology5, the GSI was included as a control variable in a partial correlation (rp) analyses. Furthermore, to determine whether the relationship between alexithymia and EEG connectivity data was mediated by psychopathology, multiple mediation analysis was performed using the “process” macro for SPSS46. This tool assesses direct and indirect effects of one or more independent variables (IV) on a dependent variable (DV) through one or more mediators (M). In the present study we tested a model in which alexithymia severity (TAS total score) is the independent variable, EEG connectivity values (interconnected ROIs) are the dependent variables, and psychopathology (GSI) is a potential mediator. It is important to note that the design of this analysis is correlational in nature, which precludes a causal interpretation of
