The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. III. Reliability and factorial validity in a community population.
OBJECTIVE
Some researchers have questioned the stability of the three-factor structure of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) or the reliability of one or more factors of the scale. The aim of this study was to assess the replicability of the factor structure of the TAS-20 in a large community sample and to determine also whether the same three-factor structure can be recovered in men and women. The study also assessed the reliability of the scale and the influence of gender, age, and education on TAS-20 scores.


METHODS
The TAS-20 was administered to 1933 adults (880 men and 1053 women) residing in several small cities and towns in Ontario, Canada. The factor structure of the scale was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).


RESULTS
The three-factor structure of the TAS-20 was replicable in the entire community sample and also separately in men and women. The TAS-20 and its three factors demonstrated internal reliability, and the variables of gender, age, and education accounted for relatively small or modest amounts of variability in total TAS-20 and factor scale scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The results provide strong support for the reliability and factorial validity of the TAS-20 and indicate the importance of using CFA when assessing the replicability and theoretical integrity of the factor structure of the scale.
Parker
James D A
JD
Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7B8.
Taylor
Graeme J
GJ
Bagby
R Michael
RM
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity