Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Torres, Sandra
Data de Publicação: 2019
Outros Autores: Guerra, Marina P., Miller, Kylee, Costa, Patrício Soares, Cruz, Inês, Vieira, Filipa M., Brandão, Isabel, Roma-Torres, António, Rocha, Magda
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/57953
Resumo: There is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.
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spelling Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosaAlexithymiaFactor structureClinical samplesAnorexia nervosaConfirmatory factor analysisCiências Médicas::Medicina BásicaSocial SciencesThere is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT UID/PSI/00050/2013) and EU FEDER through COMPETE 2020 program (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007294info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionSpringerUniversidade do MinhoTorres, SandraGuerra, Marina P.Miller, KyleeCosta, Patrício SoaresCruz, InêsVieira, Filipa M.Brandão, IsabelRoma-Torres, AntónioRocha, Magda20192019-01-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1822/57953engTorres, S., Guerra, M. P., Miller, K., Costa, P., Cruz, I., Vieira, F. M., ... & Rocha, M. (2018). Factorial Validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in Clinical Samples: A Critical Examination of the Literature and a Psychometric Study in Anorexia Nervosa. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings, 1-141068-95831573-357210.1007/s10880-018-9562-y29603033https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10880-018-9562-y#citeasinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-21T12:02:32Zoai:repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt:1822/57953Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T18:52:31.246775Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
title Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
spellingShingle Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
Torres, Sandra
Alexithymia
Factor structure
Clinical samples
Anorexia nervosa
Confirmatory factor analysis
Ciências Médicas::Medicina Básica
Social Sciences
title_short Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
title_full Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
title_fullStr Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
title_full_unstemmed Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
title_sort Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa
author Torres, Sandra
author_facet Torres, Sandra
Guerra, Marina P.
Miller, Kylee
Costa, Patrício Soares
Cruz, Inês
Vieira, Filipa M.
Brandão, Isabel
Roma-Torres, António
Rocha, Magda
author_role author
author2 Guerra, Marina P.
Miller, Kylee
Costa, Patrício Soares
Cruz, Inês
Vieira, Filipa M.
Brandão, Isabel
Roma-Torres, António
Rocha, Magda
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidade do Minho
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Torres, Sandra
Guerra, Marina P.
Miller, Kylee
Costa, Patrício Soares
Cruz, Inês
Vieira, Filipa M.
Brandão, Isabel
Roma-Torres, António
Rocha, Magda
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Alexithymia
Factor structure
Clinical samples
Anorexia nervosa
Confirmatory factor analysis
Ciências Médicas::Medicina Básica
Social Sciences
topic Alexithymia
Factor structure
Clinical samples
Anorexia nervosa
Confirmatory factor analysis
Ciências Médicas::Medicina Básica
Social Sciences
description There is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2019
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/1822/57953
url http://hdl.handle.net/1822/57953
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Torres, S., Guerra, M. P., Miller, K., Costa, P., Cruz, I., Vieira, F. M., ... & Rocha, M. (2018). Factorial Validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in Clinical Samples: A Critical Examination of the Literature and a Psychometric Study in Anorexia Nervosa. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings, 1-14
1068-9583
1573-3572
10.1007/s10880-018-9562-y
29603033
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10880-018-9562-y#citeas
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
instacron:RCAAP
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