Factorial Validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in Clinical Samples: A Critical Examination of the Literature and a Psychometric Study in Anorexia Nervosa

Overview

Journal J Clin Psychol Med Settings

Publisher Springer

Specialty Psychology

Date 2018 Apr 1

PMID 29603033

Citations 4

Authors

Sandra Torres

Marina P Guerra

Kylee Miller

Patricio Costa

Ines Cruz

Filipa M Vieira

Isabel Brandao

Antonio Roma-Torres

Magda Rocha

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

There is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.

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