title: Assessing alexithymia in French-speaking samples: psychometric properties of the Observer Alexithymia Scale-French translation.
abstract: In the present study, we evaluated the psychometric properties of the Observer Alexithymia Scale-French translation (OAS-F), a 33-item, observer-rated alexithymia measure. The scale, accessible to lay and professional raters, taps everyday expressions of alexithymia. French university students (N = 159) were asked to rate a person they knew well or ask an acquaintance to rate them. Those being rated (N = 159) were parents, siblings, children, and friends. OAS-F total and subscale scores were comparable to those in the English normative samples. Moreover, OAS scores were reliable, and the scale's five-factor structure (distant, uninsightful, somatizing, humorless, and rigid) was confirmed. Importantly, too, OAS total scores correlated 0.31 with (self-report) 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) scores. The OAS-F appears to be a psychometrically sound observer-rated alexithymia measure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute Mutualiste Montsouris, 42, Bd Jourdan, 75674 Paris cedex 14, France. sylvie.berthoz@imm.fr
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berthoz
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Haviland
authors.forename: Matt L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Riggs
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perdereau
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bungener
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations