Do self-report measures of alexithymia measure alexithymia or general psychological distress? A factor analytic examination across five samples. (1st March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Preece, David A.; Becerra, Rodrigo; Boyes, Mark E.; Northcott, Chelsea; McGillivray, Lauren; Hasking, Penelope A.
• Is Part Of: Personality and individual differences. Volume 155(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-03-01
• Subjects: Toronto Alexithymia Scale -- Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire -- Bermond Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire -- Alexithymia -- Distress -- Negative affect -- Validity; Personality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Personality Development -- Periodicals; Personnalité -- Périodiques; Individualité -- Périodiques; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.109721
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-8869

Abstract

Highlights: There are concerns that alexithymia questionnaires might actually measure distress. We examined this possibility in three alexithymia measures using factor analysis. The PAQ and BVAQ had good discriminant validity against the distress factor. In contrast, the TAS-20 DIF subscale cross-loaded onto the distress factor. The field has mainly used the TAS-20, so these results may have wide implications. Abstract: Alexithymia is a multidimensional trait comprised of difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. It is most commonly assessed using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). However, over the past two decades, some authors have suggested that the TAS-20 might assess current levels of distress rather than levels of alexithymia. We explored this possibility by administering three alexithymia questionnaires, including the TAS-20, and a measure of psychological distress to five samples (Ns=300, 128, 216, 148, 103). In each sample, we used second-order exploratory factor analysis to test whether the alexithymia subscales loaded, as intended, on a separate factor to the distress subscales. All subscales of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) and Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) demonstrated good discriminant validity against the distress factor. In contrast, the difficulties identifying feelings subscale of the TAS-20 consistently cross-loaded onto the distress factor, indicating that much of its variance reflected current levels of distress, not alexithymia. This could limit the utility of the TAS-20, and the results of studies using it may need to be interpreted with this in mind. The PAQ and BVAQ appear to be good self-report alternatives for measuring alexithymia as a construct that is separable from distress.