Abstract. The paper aims to describe the methodology of a study evaluating alexithymia, empathy, childhood trauma, and negative mental health outcomes in medical students, including the prevalence of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and the quality of life. This is an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study which was conducted as an online survey between October 2021 and March 2022 with a non-clinical sample of sixth-year medical students from the Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria. The survey was held entirely in English and includes a sample of Bulgarian and foreign students with at least intermediate knowledge of English. A brief review of the concept of alexithymia, the rationale for the study, and the instruments used are presented, as well as the basic hypotheses and expected statistics and results.

Key words: alexithymia, childhood trauma, depression, medical students

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