Assessing alexithymia in forensic settings: Psychometric properties of the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale among incarcerated adult offenders

Abstract

Background Alexithymia is a trait involving difficulty identifying feelings (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF) and externally orientated thinking (EOT). It is a risk factor for criminal behaviour. It is commonly assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS‐20), but the psychometrics of the TAS‐20 have not been tested across the range of offender populations, and it has been suggested it might be unsuitable in incarcerated offenders. Aim To establish the psychometrics of the TAS‐20 among incarcerated offenders. Methods Factorial validity was examined using confirmatory factor analyses, and the invariance of this factor structure was tested against a published community sample. Reliability coefficients were calculated. Results One hundred and forty six incarcerated offenders were recruited. The factor structure of the TAS‐20 was invariant across the samples. The intended factor structure composed of DIF, DDF and EOT factors performed well overall (with a reverse‐scored method factor added), but six EOT items had low factor loadings. The total scale score and DIF and DDF subscales had acceptable reliability, but EOT did not. Conclusions Our results suggest that the TAS‐20 functions similarly in offender and community samples. Its total scale score, and DIF and DDF subscale scores can be used confidently, but the assessment of externally oriented thinking may not be adequate with this scale alone. In sum, the TAS‐20 can facilitate robust assessment of alexithymia in closed criminal justice settings as well as in the wider community.

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

“…A model that—in addition to the basic three-dimensional structure—introduced a nested method factor that captures that method-specific variance associated with the reverse item wording yielded a significant improvement in model fit (see Table 1 ). In the psychometric literature on the TAS-20, it has been reported that such a method factor model might be superior to other models ( Meganck et al, 2008 ; Preece et al, 2021 ; for a more critical evaluation, see Gignac et al, 2007 ). However, taking a closer look at the loading pattern, we noticed that all negatively keyed EOT items loaded higher on their method factor than on the actual content factor.…”

A Cross-Sectional Study Investigating the Relationship Between Alexithymia and Suicide, Violence, and Dual Harm in Male Prisoners

“…Despite this, reviews have shown that it is common in the literature for studies to report a lower alpha coefficient for the EOT subscale ( 55 ). Pertinent to this sample, and subsequent to the conduct of the current study, the EOT subscale has recently been found to have an unacceptable alpha coefficient within an offender population ( 56 ).…”