Reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy

Vincenzo Caretti; Piero Porcelli; Luigi Solano; Adriano Schimmenti; R. Michael Bagby; Graeme J. Taylor

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.02.015

Reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy

Vincenzo Caretti, Piero Porcelli, Luigi Solano, Adriano Schimmenti, R. Michael Bagby, Graeme J. Taylor

Ente Ospedaliero Specializzato in Gastroenterologia "Saverio de Bellis"

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) have been demonstrated in previous studies with English-speaking community and psychiatric samples and a German-speaking psychiatric sample. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSIA in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy. The original English version of the TSIA was translated into Italian and administered, along with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), to 80 healthy subjects, 69 medical outpatients, and 62 psychiatric outpatients. Eighty-one videotaped interviews were used for assessing the interrater reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hierarchical, four-factor structure of the TSIA obtained in previous studies, with four lower-order factors nested within two higher-order latent factors. The TSIA also demonstrated internal and interrater reliability, and concurrent validity with the TAS-20. The results support the use of the TSIA to assess alexithymia especially when a multimethod approach to measurement is possible.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	432-436
Number of pages	5
Journal	Psychiatry Research
Volume	187
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2011.02.015
Publication status	Published - May 30 2011

Keywords

Alexithymia
Concurrent validity
Confirmatory factor analysis
Multimethod measurement
Toronto Alexithymia Scale

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Psychiatry and Mental health
Biological Psychiatry

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10.1016/j.psychres.2011.02.015

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title = "Reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy",

abstract = "The reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) have been demonstrated in previous studies with English-speaking community and psychiatric samples and a German-speaking psychiatric sample. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSIA in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy. The original English version of the TSIA was translated into Italian and administered, along with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), to 80 healthy subjects, 69 medical outpatients, and 62 psychiatric outpatients. Eighty-one videotaped interviews were used for assessing the interrater reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hierarchical, four-factor structure of the TSIA obtained in previous studies, with four lower-order factors nested within two higher-order latent factors. The TSIA also demonstrated internal and interrater reliability, and concurrent validity with the TAS-20. The results support the use of the TSIA to assess alexithymia especially when a multimethod approach to measurement is possible.",

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author = "Vincenzo Caretti and Piero Porcelli and Luigi Solano and Adriano Schimmenti and Bagby, {R. Michael} and Taylor, {Graeme J.}",

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AU - Porcelli, Piero

AU - Solano, Luigi

AU - Schimmenti, Adriano

AU - Bagby, R. Michael

AU - Taylor, Graeme J.

PY - 2011/5/30

Y1 - 2011/5/30

N2 - The reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) have been demonstrated in previous studies with English-speaking community and psychiatric samples and a German-speaking psychiatric sample. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSIA in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy. The original English version of the TSIA was translated into Italian and administered, along with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), to 80 healthy subjects, 69 medical outpatients, and 62 psychiatric outpatients. Eighty-one videotaped interviews were used for assessing the interrater reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hierarchical, four-factor structure of the TSIA obtained in previous studies, with four lower-order factors nested within two higher-order latent factors. The TSIA also demonstrated internal and interrater reliability, and concurrent validity with the TAS-20. The results support the use of the TSIA to assess alexithymia especially when a multimethod approach to measurement is possible.

AB - The reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) have been demonstrated in previous studies with English-speaking community and psychiatric samples and a German-speaking psychiatric sample. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSIA in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy. The original English version of the TSIA was translated into Italian and administered, along with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), to 80 healthy subjects, 69 medical outpatients, and 62 psychiatric outpatients. Eighty-one videotaped interviews were used for assessing the interrater reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hierarchical, four-factor structure of the TSIA obtained in previous studies, with four lower-order factors nested within two higher-order latent factors. The TSIA also demonstrated internal and interrater reliability, and concurrent validity with the TAS-20. The results support the use of the TSIA to assess alexithymia especially when a multimethod approach to measurement is possible.

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KW - Concurrent validity

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KW - Multimethod measurement

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Reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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