title: Psychometric properties of the Observer Alexithymia Scale in a clinical sample.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Observer Alexithymia Scale (OAS; Haviland, Warren, & Riggs, 2000) in a clinical setting. Clinical and counseling psychologists used the OAS to rate outpatients (n = 192) with various Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnoses. Reliability and validity data are similar to the initial nonclinical data (n = 819): OAS scores are reliable (coefficient alpha = .90), and the five-factor structure--Distant, Uninsightful, Somatizing, Humorless, and Rigid--was confirmed. Moreover, the OAS does a relatively good job of differentiating clinical from nonclinical cases. The OAS is psychometrically sound, and it appears to be a useful tool for collecting and evaluating observer data on the clinically relevant, everyday expressions of alexithymia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Loma Linda University, CA 92354-3842, USA. haviland@ix.netcom.com
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Haviland
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Riggs
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gallacher
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015588:Observer Variation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics