The reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS-J)

Abstract

BackgroundThe Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) was developed to assess five levels of emotional awareness: bodily sensations, action tendencies, single emotions, blends of emotion, and combinations of blends. It is a paper and pencil performance questionnaire that presents 20 emotion-evoking scenes. We developed a Japanese version of the LEAS (LEAS-J), and its reliability and validity were examined.MethodsThe LEAS-J level was independently assessed by two researchers who scored each response according to the LEAS scoring manual. High inter-rater reliability and internal consistency were obtained for the LEAS-J. Measures were socioeconomic status, LEAS-J, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). TAS-20, IRI and NEO-FFI were the measures used to explore the construct validity of LEAS-J, as it was predicted that higher scores on the LEAS-J would be related to fewer alexithymic features, greater empathetic ability, and a greater sense of cooperation with others. Questionnaires were completed by 344 university students.ResultsThe criterion-referenced validity was determined: a significant negative relationship was found with the externally-oriented thinking scores of TAS-20, and positive relationships were found with fantasy, perspective taking, and empathic concern on IRI and with extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness on NEO-FFI.ConclusionsConsistent with our expectations, the findings provide evidence that the LEAS-J has good reliability and validity. In addition, women had significantly higher scores than men on LEAS-J, showing that the gender difference identified in the original LEAS was cross-culturally consistent.

Measures of Ability and Trait Emotional Intelligence

“…In a larger sample (N 5 380), alpha coefficients were high for the Self (α 5 .84), Other (α 5 .83), and total (α 5 .88) scores (Lane et al, 1996). Similar Cronbach alpha coefficients (Self 5 .82, Other 5 .77, total 5 .83) were reported for the LEAS-J subscales (Igarashi et al, 2011).…”

“…In Lane et al (1996), inter-rater reliabilities were high for the Self (r 5 .98), Other (r 5 .91), and total (r 5 .92) scores. Similarly, Igarashi et al (2011) reported acceptable levels of inter-rater reliability (Self 5 .88, Other 5 .87, total 5 .90).…”

Neuroimaging studies of alexithymia: physical, affective, and social perspectives

“…DDI and DDF are considered to be ‘affective’ facets of alexithymia, but EOT is less correlated with the other two [16,70] and is thought to reflect more the ‘cognitive’ dimension of alexithymia [71,72]. Among the three TAS subscales, EOT is the only factor that has a significant (negative) correlation with the levels of emotional awareness scale (LEAS) [73,74]. It is quite noteworthy that EOT does not correlate with depression but correlates negatively with the degree of interoceptive awareness, which is scaled as accuracy in a heartbeat detection task [57].…”

The Relationship Between Alexithymia and Emotional Awareness: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Correlation Between TAS-20 and LEAS

“…The inter-rater reliability of LEAS is typically high, with several studies having a Cronbach alpha of 0.90 and over. The LEAS has also met certain demands for criterion validity since it correlates with for example empathy and psychological maturity (Lane et al, 1990 ; Bydlowski et al, 2002 ; Igarashi et al, 2011 ). The instrument has been found to predict emotion-related criteria, such as the ability to identify emotions and physiological brain activation in response to emotional stimuli (Lane et al, 1995 , 1996 ).…”