Alexithymia: a comparative study of three self-report measures.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Alexithymia is a personality construct associated with hypochondriasis, somatization disorder, and other medical and psychiatric conditions.
• Self-report measures are commonly used to assess alexithymia.
• The psychometric properties of different alexithymia scales require thorough evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the psychometric properties of three self-report measures of alexithymia: the Schalling-Sifneos Personality Scale (SSPS), the MMPI alexithymia scale (MMPI-A), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).
• To determine which measure is most psychometrically sound for assessing the alexithymia construct.

Main Methods:

• Administered the SSPS, MMPI-A, TAS, and two measures of functional somatic symptoms to 209 college students.
• Evaluated internal consistency, response/gender biases, factor structure stability, and relationships with somatic symptoms for each scale.
• Utilized factor analysis to assess the structural integrity of the scales.

Main Results:

• The TAS demonstrated good internal consistency and sensitivity to somatic symptoms.
• The SSPS and MMPI-A exhibited response and/or gender biases, poor internal reliability, and no clear relationship with somatic symptoms.
• Factor analysis confirmed a stable and replicable factor structure for the TAS, whereas the SSPS showed limited factor stability.

Conclusions:

• The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) is the most psychometrically sound self-report measure for assessing the alexithymia construct.
• The SSPS and MMPI-A have significant limitations, including biases and poor reliability, making them less suitable for research and clinical use.