Toward the development of a new self-report alexithymia scale

Addressing methodological problems in the development of existing scales for measuring alexithymia, this study reports the development of a new self-report scale. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was devised with concern for theoretical congruence with the alexithymia construct, independence of social desirability response bias, and internal consistency. Initially, 41 items were administered to 542 college students. Twenty-six items meeting preestablished psychometric guidelines were retained. Factor analysis yielded four interpretable factors, all consistent with the construct. The scale demonstrated adequate split-half and test-retest reliability, and scores were not significantly associated with age, education, and socioeconomic status. These preliminary results suggest that the TAS may be used as a clinical screening device with psychiatric and general medical patient populations.