Psychiatry Investig.  2015 Oct;12(4):500-507. 10.4306/pi.2015.12.4.500.

Psychometric Properties of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in a Group of Italian Younger Adolescents

• Craparo G
• Faraci P
• Gori A

• KMID: 2391822
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2015.12.4.500

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Alexithymia is a personality construct that inhibits and interferes with normal affect regulating abilities. The purpose of our study was to assess psychometric properties of TAS-20 in younger adolescents.
METHODS
Data were collected from 508 younger adolescents (48.8% male and 51.2% female) with a mean age of 12.56 years (DS=0.50, range: 12-13 years). We administered the following scales: 20-Item-Toronto Alexithymia Scale.
RESULTS
The confirmatory factor analysis performed on the second random subsample showed reasonable goodness-of-fit for the oblique bi-factorial model: [chi]2 (32, n=254)=54.22; p=0.008; chi2/df=1.69; NNFI=0.92; CFI=0.95; SRMR=0.05; RMSEA=0.05; 90% confidence interval=0.027-0.078.
CONCLUSION
Based on the outcomes of our research we support the idea of evaluating adolescents for alexithymia.

Keyword

Alexithymia; Factorial model; Adolescence; TAS-20; Validation

MeSH Terms

Adolescent*
Affective Symptoms*
Humans
Male
Psychometrics*
Weights and Measures