The Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire cutoff scores: a study in eating-disordered and control subjects.
BACKGROUND
The evaluation of alexithymic deficits has become increasingly desirable in health and psychopathology research. The purpose of this study was to calculate alexithymia cutoff scores for a recently developed self-report alexithymia questionnaire: the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire Form B (BVAQ-B).


METHODS
Three hundred subjects (47 eating-disordered patients and 253 healthy individuals) completed the BVAQ-B and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20).


METHODS
The TAS-20 was used as a gold standard for this research, with its previously established cutoff scores serving as diagnostic criteria for determining the presence or absence of alexithymia. The BVAQ-B cutoff score selection was based on the examination of psychometric data (i.e., the sensitivity and specificity of the BVAQ-B scores and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses) and of clinical data (i.e., BVAQ-B mean score of the control subjects, who were mostly nonalexithymic, and BVAQ-B mean score of a group of patients with eating disorders, the majority of whom were alexithymic).


RESULTS
This research found that the most appropriate BVAQ-B cutoff scores for determining the absence and presence of alexithymia were 43 and 53, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In light of these findings, we believe that the BVAQ-B may also lend itself to a categorical evaluation of alexithymia, with these cutoff scores determining its absence or presence.
Deborde
A-S
AS
Department of Psychiatry for Adolescents and Young Adults, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris 5 University, Paris, France. asdeborde@yahoo.fr
Berthoz
S
S
Wallier
J M
JM
Fermanian
J
J
Falissard
B
B
Jeammet
P
P
Corcos
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires