Reliability and validity of the 20-item toronto alexithymia scale in korean adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
Adolescence is a period of developing emotional regulation. However, alexithymia has rarely been examined during this period. The objective of this study is to examine the factor structure and internal consistency of the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K) in normal adolescents in South Korea.


METHODS
The TAS-20K was administered to a sample of 290 adolescents aged from 12 to 16 years old. Internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and factorial validity were evaluated.


RESULTS
The three factors of the TAS-20K were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency, measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient was acceptable for difficulty in identifying feelings, good for difficulty in describing feelings, and acceptable for externally oriented thinking.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study indicates that the TAS-20K is an appropriate instrument to assess alexithymia in Korean adolescents.
Seo
Sang Soo
SS
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
Chung
Un-Sun
US
Rim
Hyo Deog
HD
Jeong
Sung Hoon
SH