The Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire Cutoff Scores: A Study in Eating-Disordered and Control Subjects

• Published in: Psychopathology Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 43 - 49
• Main Authors: Deborde, A.-S., Berthoz, S., Wallier, J.M., Fermanian, J., Falissard, B., Jeammet, P., Corcos, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Karger 01.01.2008; S. Karger AG
• Subjects: Adult; Affective Symptoms - classification; Affective Symptoms - diagnosis; Affective Symptoms - epidemiology; Anorexia Nervosa - diagnosis; Anorexia Nervosa - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Bulimia Nervosa - diagnosis; Bulimia Nervosa - epidemiology; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Original Paper; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20; Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire; Alexithymia; Human; Questionnaire; Cutoff note; Psychometrics; Alexithymia; Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20; Personality; Eating disorder; Toronto Alexithymia Scale
• ISSN: 0254-4962; 1423-033X
• DOI: 10.1159/000109955

Background: The evaluation of alexithymic deficits has become increasingly desirable in health and psychopathology research. The purpose of this study was to calculate alexithymia cutoff scores for a recently developed self-report alexithymia questionnaire: the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire Form B (BVAQ-B). Sampling: Three hundred subjects (47 eating-disordered patients and 253 healthy individuals) completed the BVAQ-B and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Methods: The TAS-20 was used as a gold standard for this research, with its previously established cutoff scores serving as diagnostic criteria for determining the presence or absence of alexithymia. The BVAQ-B cutoff score selection was based on the examination of psychometric data (i.e., the sensitivity and specificity of the BVAQ-B scores and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses) and of clinical data (i.e., BVAQ-B mean score of the control subjects, who were mostly nonalexithymic, and BVAQ-B mean score of a group of patients with eating disorders, the majority of whom were alexithymic). Results: This research found that the most appropriate BVAQ-B cutoff scores for determining the absence and presence of alexithymia were 43 and 53, respectively. Conclusion: In light of these findings, we believe that the BVAQ-B may also lend itself to a categorical evaluation of alexithymia, with these cutoff scores determining its absence or presence.