Di tella and castelli, 20, 2016, and increasing attention is paid to its relationships with other psychological constructs. The term alexithymia had been coined by nemiah and sifneos 1970, to describe the difficulties that some psychosomatic patients seem to have perceiving, differentiating, and expressing their own. Although not scientifically validated, it appears to be a reasonable amatuer measure of alexithymic traits and a useful starting point for better understanding how you process emotions. Pdf addressing shortcomings of the selfreport toronto alexithymia scale tas, two studies were conducted to reconstruct the item domain. The online alexithymia questionnaire is the only freely available alexithymia test. The most widely used instrument to measure alexithymia is the 20item toronto alexithymia scale tas20. The current version has twenty statements rated on a fivepoint likert scale. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the tas20 with fullinformation. The term alexithymia had been coined by nemiah and sifneos 1970, to describe the difficulties that some psychosomatic patients seem to have perceiving, differentiating, and. Alexithymia is not a diagnosis, but a construct useful for characterizing patients who seem not to understand the.
Toronto alexithymia scale 20 tas20 the tas20 b agby et al. Rasoul heshmatia, hamid allahverdipourb, mahmoud ghazi. The 20item toronto alexithymia scale tas20 purportedly measures 3 intercorrelated dimensions of the alexithymia construct a difficulties identifying feelings dif, b difficulties describing feelings ddf, and c externally oriented thinking eot. Sep 25, 2019 the twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20 that assesses. In may 2007 the online alexithymia questionnaire underwent a revision of nine questions 2, 7, 11, 12, 16, 23, 28, 33 having similarities to, or reproductions of, wordings in the toronto alexithymia scale tas20, with duplications being replaced by more original phrasing. Please answer the following questions, using the scale provided. A cutoff score of 61 was used to define alexithymia as recommended. Total scores of the tas26 were higher p toronto alexithymia scale, the temperament and character inventory, and the scl90r were administered to 254 psychiatric patients. The present study was aimed at assessing the utility of a scale to measure alexithymia in the indian cultural set up.
Firstly, the psychometric properties of the 20item toronto alexithymia scale tas20 and the alexithymia questionnaire for children aqc that measure the three dimensions of alexithymia dif, difficulty identifying feelings. It is currently considered a relevant concept for several psychological and physical disorders taylor and bagby, 2004. Alexithymia is not classified as a mental disorder in the dsm iv. The toronto alexithymia scale tas20 is a 20item selfreport questionnaire designed to assess an individuals level of alexithymia 10, 11. The turkish version of the 20item toronto alexithymia scale. A previous paper described the development of the twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20 and reported preliminary evidence of reliability and factorial validity of the scale. Almost all of the existing adolescent alexithymia research studies have been conducted with the twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20, 5, the most widely used measure of alexithymia. One of the main limitations of the exploration of alexithymia in adolescence or infancy is the use of adult measures for assessing the construct. Alexithymia refers to people who have difficulty identifying and describing emotions as well as differentiating between physical and emotional sensations. The relevance of alexithymia has grown exponentially in the past decades. Its not a formal diagnosis, but a way of describing a common set of experiences related to emotional dysfunction. We have applied this scale to chilean university students and we performed analysis using different model testing procedures. Alexithymie questionnaire this online alexithymia questionnaire was developed in 2005 and overcomes some general shortcomings of other questionnaires like bermondvorst or tas20. The twenty item toronto alexithymia scale tas20 after a revised edition to the tas, a twentyitem version was devised.
The difficulties identifying feelings factor of the toronto alexithymia scale significantly predicted all scl90r subscale. These data suggested a mismatch between the patients subjective. The 20item toronto alexithymia scale tas20 is a selfreport questionnaire designed to measure the three components of alexithymia. Reliability and factorial validity in a community population article pdf available in journal of psychosomatic. In order to evaluate aspects of concurrent validity, a part of the sample n 116 completed the ptias, the twentyitems toronto alexithymia scale tas20 and the bermondvorst alexithymia questionnaire bvaq. Structure of the twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale. Childrens alexithymia measure cam the childrens alexithymia measure cam is designed to be completed by a parent or other caregiver who has known the child for some time.
It is a dimensional personality trait that varies in intensity from person to person. Psychometric properties of the 20item toronto alexithymia scale in a group of italian younger adolescents. The measurement of alexithymia in children and adolescents. The alexithymia questionnaire for children consists of 20 items that represent the three factors difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings and. This week for takeatest tuesday were taking the online alexithymia questionnaire. Eot, externallyoriented thinking were explored in various samples of children, adolescents or young. With this aim, we studied the psychometric properties of the twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20, which now is, the most widely used instrument to measure alexithymia. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed.
Cambridge core psychiatry and clinical psychology alexithymia edited by olivier luminet. Please answer the following questions, using the scale. The current version has twenty statements rated on a fivepoint likert scale the reliability and validity of the tas20 was established by a series of articles by r. Recently a new self report alexithymia scale, the toronto alexithymia scale tas, was developed by taylor et al. Psychometric properties of the 20item toronto alexithymia. Alexithymia is not a diagnosis, but a construct useful for characterizing patients who seem not to. Development and validation of alexithymia scale for. Eot, externallyoriented thinking were explored in various samples of children, adolescents or. Total scores of the tas26 were higher p alexithymia scale20 tas20 19, the short form 20 items of the first scale proposed by taylor et al. The list of acronyms and abbreviations related to tas20 toronto alexithymia scale20. We examined the scales psychometric properties in australian nonclinical n 428 and psychiatric n.
The twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20 that assesses. Eating behavior was investigated using the dutch eating. This paper describes a study that further evaluated the construct. It is a personality trait that varies in severity from person to person.
Taking the alexithymia questionnaire musings of an aspie. Jun 12, 2018 with this aim, we studied the psychometric properties of the twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20, which now is, the most widely used instrument to measure alexithymia. Vernacular version of the toronto alexithymia scale tas a newly devised self report alexithymia scale was assessed for its psychometric properties in a sample of 116 normal subjects. Item selection and crossvalidation of the factor structure. The scale was found to have adequate internal consistency and testretest. Psychometric properties of the 20item toronto alexithymia scale in a turkish adolescent sample. When examined on a sample of 542 college students, this 26 item scale was foupd to have acceptable internal consistency and testretest reliability. In 1972, peter sifneos introduced to psychiatry the term alexithymia, which derived from the greek literally means having no words for emotions alack, lexisword, thymosemotions. This online alexithymia questionnaire was developed in 2005 and overcomes some general shortcomings of other questionnaires like bermondvorst or tas20. Reliability and factorial validity in a community population article pdf available in journal of psychosomatic research 553.
Jun 12, 2018 psychometric properties of the 20item toronto alexithymia scale in a turkish adolescent sample. Toronto alexithymia scale20 tas20 the tas20 b agby et al. The scale was found to have adequate internal consistency and testretest reliability. The toronto alexithymia scale tas20 is a 20item selfadministered questionnaire that includes three subscales. The reliability and validity of the tas20 was established by a series of articles. Finding the psychometric properties of the original toronto alexithymia scale to be flawed, developers created the tas20 a revised measure consisting of 20 items divided into three separate factors, or domains of alexithymia. Toronto alexithymia scale tas20 association for contextual. May 24, 2019 they found that two patients with novl judged themselves as competent in emotional processing on the toronto alexithymia scale tas20. Twentyitem toronto alexithymia scale tas20 springerlink. It was developed in 1986 and later revised, removing some of the items. Autistic individuals with alexithymia could therefore represent a specific subgroup of autism who may benefit from tailored interventions. Originally the questionnaire was done by jason thompson who intended to have a free alexithymia questionnaire available for the community. However, different factor structures have been found in different languages.
The toronto alexithymia scale tas was the first alexithymia measure validated in accordance with modern psychometric research, and its 20item version tas20, especially, is an internationally used measures. Alexithymia refers to people who have trouble identifying and describing emotions and who tend to minimise emotional experience and focus attention externally. The turkish version of the 20item toronto alexithymia. The toronto alexithymia scale tas20 is a 20item, selfadministered questionnaire that includes three subscales. Toronto alexithymia scale tas20 confused what emotion scale scale to rate how strongly the subject agrees or disagrees that heshe is often confused by what emotion heshe is feeling, as part of the toronto alexithymia scale tas20. What to know about alexithymia health news medical news today. The construct of alexithymia, first coined by sifneos. The toronto alexithymia scale t as is a 26item selfrepon measure of alexithymia with good internal consistency and testretest reliability, and a factor structure conaruent with the alexithymia construct. A persons alexithymia score can be measured with questionnaires such as the toronto alexithymia scale tas20, the bermondvorst alexithymia questionnaire bvaq, the online alexithymia questionnaire oaqg2 or the observer alexithymia scale oas. A psychometric comparison of the toronto alexithymia scale tas20 and the observer alexithymia scale oas in an alcoholdependent sample a persons alexithymia score can be measured with questionnaires such as the toronto alexithymia scale. Toronto alexithymia scale tas20 34, 35 is one of the most commonly used selfreport scales used to measure alexithymic features. Factorial validity and measurement invariance of the 20.
Using the scale provided as a guide, indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements by placing an x in he appropriate place. A persons alexithymia score can be measured with questionnaires such as the toronto alexithymia scale tas20, the bermondvorst alexithymia questionnaire bvaq4 or the observer alexithymia scale oas. Tas20 has 20 items with three subscales difficulty describing feelings, difficulty identifying emotions and externally oriented thinking. The toronto alexithymia scale is a measure of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions.
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