Toronto Alexithymia Scale: relationships with measures of patient self-disclosure and private self-consciousness

The construct validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was tested by correlations with the Patient Self-Disclosure instrument and the Private Self-Consciousness scale in a study of 333 students at a large midwestern university. The TAS was found to be internally consistent and to yield a replicable factor structure. Scores on the TAS correlated negatively with both overall ratings of the importance of such disclosure and scores on the PSC, and positively with perceived difficulty of patient self-disclosure. Results support construct validity of the TAS and suggest a more generally restrictive communicative style among alexithymic individuals than previously thought.