Effect of Alexithymia on Internet Addiction Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Metacognition Beliefs

Background: Previous studies have found that alexithymia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Internet addiction. However, the effect of alexithymia on both metacognition and Internet addiction has yet to be examined.Methods: The Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Metacognition Questionnaire, and Internet Addiction Test were used to assess a sample of 356 college students. A parallel mediator effect analysis was applied to test the hypothesis that metacognition mediates the relationship between alexithymia and Internet addiction.Results: The parallel multiple mediator models showed that alexithymia predicted the five dimensions of metacognition and Internet addiction, and that three dimensions—cognitive confidence, positive beliefs about worry, and the need to control thoughts—partially mediated this relationship.Conclusion: Alexithymia could directly and indirectly predict Internet addiction via metacognition.

Alexithymia and Insecure Attachment among Male Intimate Partner Violence Aggressors in the Dominican Republic

The complexity of intimate partner violence and the impossibility of understanding it from single factors have been studied from different biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 187 men involved in legal proceedings for problems of violence in their intimate partner relationships in the Dominican Republic in order to explore whether insecure attachment represents a risk factor for alexithymia in men with violent behaviors. The attachment style was determinate by the Casullo and Fernández-Liporace Attachment Styles Scale, and alexithymia was assayed using the Latin American Consensual Toronto Alexithymia Scale (LAC TAS-20), a modification of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Chi-square test and multiple binary logistic regression analysis were performed to explore the phenomena of alexithymia and attachment styles in the context of a confinement center for male intimate partner offenders in the Dominican Republic. The results showed that insecure attachment represents a risk factor for alexithymia, being highest for avoidant attachment in the population studied. The results also highlight the influence of other factors such as education and maternal–familial relationships as a factor risk for alexithymia.

Gemeinsame Grundlage von Alexithymie und expressiver Suppression

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Internationale Studien konnten bereits einen Zusammenhang zwischen Alexithymie und expressiver Suppression belegen. Im deutschsprachigen Raum wurde dieser Zusammenhang bisher nur sehr selten betrachtet. Übergeordnetes Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war die Untersuchung eines korrelativen und faktoriellen Zusammenhangs von Alexithymie und expressiver Suppression. Material und Methoden Insgesamt 317 Personen nahmen einer Onlinebefragung teil. Mithilfe der deutschsprachigen Versionen der Toronto Alexithymia Scale-26 (TAS-26) und des Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) wurden Daten zu Alexithymie und expressiver Suppression erfasst. Ergebnisse Es bestanden signifikante Korrelationen zwischen der Subskala „Schwierigkeit bei der Identifikation von Gefühlen“ der TAS-26 und der Skala „Unterdrückung“ des ERQ (r = 0,5; p < 0,001) sowie zwischen der Subskala „Schwierigkeit bei der Beschreibung von Gefühlen“ der TAS-26 und der Skala „Unterdrückung“ des ERQ (r = 0,64; p < 0,001). Die Ergebnisse einer explorativen Faktorenanalyse ergaben eine Zwei-Faktoren-Lösung mit einem gemeinsamen Faktor für die TAS-26-Subskalen „Schwierigkeit bei der Identifikation von Gefühlen“ und „Schwierigkeit bei der Beschreibung von Gefühlen“ und der Skala „Unterdrückung“ des ERQ mit einer gemeinsamen Varianz von 38,2 % (χ2 = 363,843; p < 0,001; Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin[KMO]-Wert = 0,699). Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass den Skalen der TAS-26 in den Komponenten „Schwierigkeit bei der Identifikation von Gefühlen“ und „Schwierigkeit bei der Beschreibung von Gefühlen“ sowie der Skala „Unterdrückung“ des ERQ in der Komponente der „expressiven Suppression“ ein gemeinsames Konstrukt zugrunde liegt, das mit dem Begriff der Sprachlosigkeit belegt werden kann.

Improving the measurement of alexithymia in autistic adults: a psychometric investigation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and generation of a general alexithymia factor score using item response theory

Background Alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by difficulties interpreting emotional states, is commonly elevated in autistic adults, and a growing body of literature suggests that this trait underlies several cognitive and emotional differences previously attributed to autism. Although questionnaires such as the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) are frequently used to measure alexithymia in the autistic population, few studies have investigated the psychometric properties of these questionnaires in autistic adults, including whether differential item functioning (I-DIF) exists between autistic and general population adults. Methods This study is a revised version of a previous article that was retracted due to copyright concerns (Williams and Gotham in Mol Autism 12:1–40). We conducted an in-depth psychometric analysis of the TAS-20 in a large sample of 743 cognitively able autistic adults recruited from the Simons Foundation SPARK participant pool and 721 general population controls enrolled in a large international psychological study. The factor structure of the TAS-20 was examined using confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory was used to generate a subset of the items that were strong indicators of a “general alexithymia” factor. Correlations between alexithymia and other clinical outcomes were used to assess the nomological validity of the new alexithymia score in the SPARK sample. Results The TAS-20 did not exhibit adequate model fit in either the autistic or general population samples. Empirically driven item reduction was undertaken, resulting in an 8-item general alexithymia factor score (GAFS-8, with “TAS” no longer referenced due to copyright) with sound psychometric properties and practically ignorable I-DIF between diagnostic groups. Correlational analyses indicated that GAFS-8 scores, as derived from the TAS-20, meaningfully predict autistic trait levels, repetitive behaviors, and depression symptoms, even after controlling for trait neuroticism. The GAFS-8 also presented no meaningful decrement in nomological validity over the full TAS-20 in autistic participants. Limitations Limitations of the current study include a sample of autistic adults that was majority female, later diagnosed, and well educated; clinical and control groups drawn from different studies with variable measures; only 16 of the TAS-20 items being administered to the non-autistic sample; and an inability to test several other important psychometric characteristics of the GAFS-8, including sensitivity to change and I-DIF across multiple administrations. Conclusions These results indicate the potential of the GAFS-8 to robustly measure alexithymia in both autistic and non-autistic adults. A free online score calculator has been created to facilitate the use of norm-referenced GAFS-8 latent trait scores in research applications (available at https://asdmeasures.shinyapps.io/alexithymia).

The Structure of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20): A Meta-Analytic Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Alexithymia is defined as the inability of persons to describe their emotional states, to identify the feelings of others, and a utilitarian type of thinking. The most popular instrument to assess alexithymia is the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Despite its widespread use, an ongoing controversy pertains to its internal structure. The TAS-20 was originally constructed to capture three different factors, but several studies suggested different factor solutions, including bifactor models and models with a method factor for the reversely keyed items. The present study examined the dimensionality of the TAS-20 using summary data of 88 samples from 62 studies (total N = 69,722) with meta-analytic structural equation modeling. We found support for the originally proposed three-dimensional solution, whereas more complex models produced inconsistent factor loadings. Because a major source of misfit stems from translated versions, the results are discussed with respect to generalizations across languages and cultural contexts.

الالكسيثيميا وعلاقتها بالتدين لدى طلبة الجامعة

يهدف البحث الحالي التعرف الى : مستوى الالكسيثيميا لدى طلبة الجامعة . مستوى التدين لدى طلبة الجامعة . العلاقة الارتباطية بين الالكسيثيميا و التدين لدى طلبة الجامعة. اقتصر البحث على عينة مؤلفة من (400) طالب وطالبة من طلبة جامعتي القادسية والكوفة لكلا الجنسين (ذكور, وإناث)، والتخصص (العلمي, والإنساني) للعام الدراسي (2019-2020) وقد تم تطبيق المقاييس عليهم الكترونياً بسبب جائحة كورونا, ولتحقيق أهداف البحث الحالي تبنى الباحث مقياس تورنتو للالكسيثيميا (Toronto Alexithymia Scale: TAS-20) لباجبي وزملائه ( Bagby parker & Taylor, 1994) يحتوي هذا المقياس على (20) فقرة في ثلاث مجالات : (صعوبة تحديد المشاعر، صعوبة وصف المشاعر،التوجه الخارجي في التفكير). اما مقياس التدين فقد اعد الباحث المقياس في ضوء المنظور الاسلامي بصيغة أولية مؤلفاً من (26) فقرة ، وصيغت الفقرات على شكل عبارات تقريرية ، لكل موقف خمسة بدائل هي (أوافق تماماً، أوافق بدرجة كبيرة ، أوافق بدرجة متوسطة ، أوافق بدرجة قليلة، لا أوافق ابدا). ، ويعطي البديل الأول الدرجة (5) والبديل الثاني الدرجة (4) والبديل الثالث الدرجة (3) والبديل الرابع الدرجة (2) والبديل الخامس الدرجة (1) واظهرت النتائج الاتي تتمتع العينة بمستوى متوسط من الالكسيثيميا ، وان متوسط درجات أفراد العينة كان غير دال إحصائية. تتمتع العينة بمستوى عالي من التدين، وان متوسط درجات أفراد العينة على مقياس التدين كان دال إحصائية. وجود علاقة ارتباطيه عكسية دالة بين الالكسيثيميا والتدين لدى طلبة الجامعة. وفي ضوء نتائج البحث يوصي الباحث بمجموعة من التوصيات والمقترحات.

What do alexithymia items measure? A discriminant content validity study of the Toronto-alexithymia-scale–20

Background Questions have been raised about whether items of alexithymia scales assess the construct alexithymia and its key features, and no other related constructs. This study assessed the (discriminant) content validity of the most widely used alexithymia scale, i.e., the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Methods Participants (n = 81) rated to what extent TAS-20 items and items of related constructs were relevant for assessing the constructs ‘alexithymia’, ‘difficulty identifying feelings’, ‘difficulty describing feelings’, ‘externally-oriented thinking’, ‘limited imaginal capacity’, ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’, and ‘health anxiety’. Results Results revealed that, overall, the TAS-20 did only partly measure ‘alexithymia’. Only the subscales ‘difficulty identifying feelings’ and ‘difficulty describing feelings’ represented ‘alexithymia’ and their intended construct, although some content overlap between these subscales was found. In addition, some items assessed (health) anxiety equally well or even better. Conclusions Revision of the TAS-20 is recommended to adequately assess all key features of alexithymia. Findings with the TAS-20 need to be interpreted with caution in people suffering from medical conditions.