Psychometric characteristics of persian version of the toronto alexithymia scale-20 in clinical and non-clinical samples

ABSTRACT

Alexithymia as a cluster of cognitive and affective deficits has been studied for its ability to predict a variety of psychological disorders. Given its clinical importance, various selfreport questionnaires have been developed to measure alexithymia. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric characteristics of Persian version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 [FTAS-20] using confirmatory factor analysis. 175 patients [102 women, 73 men] who met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for depressive, anxiety or obsessivecompulsive disorders, and 173 normal adults [99 women, 74 men] completed the FTAS-20. Findings supported the three-factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and predictive validity of FTAS-20 in both clinical and non-clinical samples. The three FTAS-20 subscales are useful to explore the distinct facets of the alexithymia construct