Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T02:34:14.154Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessing alexithymia in French-speaking samples: psychometric properties of the Observer Alexithymia Scale-French translation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Sylvie Berthoz ,
Mark G. Haviland ,
Matt L. Riggs ,
Fabienne Perdereau  and
Catherine Bungener
Sylvie Berthoz*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute Mutualiste Montsouris, 42, Bd Jourdan, 75674Paris cedex 14, France
Mark G. Haviland
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
Matt L. Riggs
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA
Fabienne Perdereau
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute Mutualiste Montsouris, 42, Bd Jourdan, 75674Paris cedex 14, France
Catherine Bungener
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychology, René Descartes University, Paris, France
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 1 5661 6911; fax: +33 1 5661 6924. E-mail address:[email protected] (S. Berthoz).
Get access

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.

Keywords

AlexithymiaObserver ratingsObserver Alexithymia Scale
Type
Scales and Measurement of Psychopathology
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 20 , Issue 7 , November 2005 , pp. 497 - 502
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier SAS 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bagby, R.M., Taylor, G.J.Affect dysregulation and alexithymia. In: Taylor, G.J.Bagby, R.M.Parker, J.D.A.Disorders of affect regulation: alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1997. p. 26–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagby, R.M., Taylor, G.J.Measurement and validation of the alexithymia construct. In: Taylor, G.J.Bagby, R.M.Parker, J.D.A.Disorders of affect regulation: alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1997.p.46–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagby, R.M., Parker, J.D.A., Taylor, G.J.The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. J. Psychosom. Res. 1994;38:23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagby, R.M., Taylor, G.J., Parker, J.D.A.The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-II. Convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. J. Psychosom. Res. 1994;38:33–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bentler, P.M.Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychol. Bull. 1990;107:238–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bentler, P.M., Wu, E.J.C.EQS for windows user’s guide Encino, CA: Multivariate Software; 1995.Google Scholar
Berthoz, S., Artiges, E., Van De Moortele, P.F., Poline, J.B., Rouquette, S., Consoli, S.M., et al.Effect of impaired recognition and expression of emotions on frontocingulate cortices: an fMRI study of men with alexithymia. Am J Psychiatry 2002;159:961–967.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Block, J.The Q-set method in personality assessment and psychiatric research (reprint edition) Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press; 1961/1978.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bollen, K.A.Structural equations with latent variables New York: Wiley; 1989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J.A power primer. Psychol. Bull. 1992;112:155–159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corcos, M., Guilbaud, O., Speranza, M., Paterniti, S., Loas, G., Stephan, P., et al.Alexithymia and depression in eating disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2000;93:263–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cronbach, L.J.Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika 1951;16:297–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guilbaud, O., Corcos, M., Hjalmarsson, L., Loas, G., Jeammet, P.Is there a psychoneuroimmunological pathway between alexithymia and immunity? Immune and physiological correlates of alexithymia. Biomed Pharmacother 2003;57:292–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haviland, M.G., Reise, S.P.A California Q-set alexithymia prototype and its relationship to ego-control and ego-resiliency. J. Psychosom. Res. 1996;41:597–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haviland, M.G., Warren, W.L., Riggs, M.L.An observer scale to measure alexithymia. Psychosomatics 2000;41:385–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haviland, M.G., Warren, W.L., Riggs, M.L., Gallacher, M.Psychometric properties of the Observer Alexithymia Scale in a clinical sample. J Pers Assess 2001;77:176–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haviland, M.G., Warren, W.L., Riggs, M.L., Nitch, S.R.Concurrent validity of two observer-rated alexithymia measures. Psychosomatics 2002;43:472–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, L., Bentler, P.M.Evaluating model fit. In: Hoyle, R.H.Structural equation modeling: concepts, issues, and applications Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1995. p.76–99.Google Scholar
Kauhanen, J., Kaplan, G.A., Cohen, R.D., Julkunen, J., Salonen, T.Alexithymia and risk of death in middle-aged men. J. Psychosom. Res. 1996;41:541–549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kooiman, C.G., Spinhoven, P., Trijsburg, R.W.The assessment of alexithymia. A critical review of the literature and a psychometric study of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. J Psychosom Res 2002;53:1083–1090.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linden, W., Wen, F., Paulhaus, D.L.Measuring alexithymia: reliability, validity and prevalence. In: Butcher, J.Spielberger, C.Advances in personality assessment Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; 1994.p. 125–143.Google Scholar
Loas, G., Otmani, O., Verrier, A., Fremaux, D., Marchand, M.P.Factor analysis of the French version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Psychopathology 1996;29:139–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loas, G., Fremaux, D., Otmani, O., Leclercle, C., Delahousse, J.Is alexithymia a negative factor for maintaining abstinence? A follow-up study. Compr. Psychiatry 1997;38:296–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loas, G., Otmani, O., Leclercle, C., Jouvent, R.Relationships between the emotional and cognitive components of alexithymia and dependency in alcoholics. Psychiatry Res. 2000;96:63–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lumley, M.A., Gustavson, B., Partridge, R.T., Simon, T., Barry, R., Davis, M., et al. A multimethod assessment of alexithymia and other emotional abilities: relationships among measures. Luminet, O. (Chair), New developments in alexithymia research. Symposium presented at the Third International Meeting on The (Non)Expression of Emotions in Health and Disease Conference, Tilburg, The Netherlands. October 2003.Google Scholar
Montreuil, M., Jouvent, R., Carton, S., Bungener, C., Widlocher, D.Parallel Visual Information Processing Test. An experimental assessment of alexithymia. Psychother. Psychosom. 1991;56:212–219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, J.D.A., Taylor, G.J., Bagby, R.M.The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-III. Reliability and factorial validity in a community population. J Psychosom Res 2003;55:269–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riggs, M.L., Haviland, M.G.The relationships among Observer Alexithymia Scale and big five factor scores. Poster presented at the Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL. May 2004.Google Scholar
Sifneos, P.E.Alexithymia: past and present. Am. J. Psychiatry 1996;153:137–142.Google ScholarPubMed
Steiger, J.H.Structural model evaluation and modification: an interval estimation approach. Multivariate Behav. Res. 1990;25:173–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, G.J., Bagby, R.M., Parker, J.D.A.Disorders of affect regulation: alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, G.J., Bagby, R.M., Luminet, O.Assessment of alexithymia: self-report and observer-rated measures. Bar-On, R.Parker, J.D.A.The handbook of emotional intelligence San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass; 2000.p. 301–319.Google Scholar
Taylor, G.J., Bagby, R.M., Parker, J.D.A.The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-IV. Reliability and factorial validity in different languages and cultures. J Psychosom Res 2003;55:277–283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ullman, J.B.Structural equation modeling. In: Tabachnick, B.G.Fidell, L.S.Using multivariate statistics New York: Harper Collins; 1996.p. 709–811.Google Scholar
Yao, S., Yi, J., Zhu, X., Haviland, M.G. Reliability and factorial validity of the Observer Alexithymia Scale-Chinese translation. Psychiatry Res. 2005(in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.