Psychometric Properties of the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children in a Peruvian Sample of Adolescents

• Published in: Revista de psicología (Lima, Perú) Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 97 - 124
• Main Authors: Yearwood, Karen, Vliegen, Nicole, Luyten, Patrick, Chau, Cecilia, Corveleyn, Jozef
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú 01.01.2017
• Subjects: adolescentes; adolescents; alexithymia; alexitimia; apego; attachment; BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES; mentalización; mentalização; mentalizing; PSYCHOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED; PSYCHOLOGY, BIOLOGICAL; PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL; PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL; PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL; PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL; PSYCHOLOGY, MATHEMATICAL; PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHOANALYSIS; PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL; sintomas; SOCIAL ISSUES; SOCIAL WORK; symptoms; síntomas; symptoms; alexitimia; attachment; mentalización; apego; adolescents; adolescentes; síntomas; mentalização; alexithymia; mentalizing; sintomas
• ISSN: 0254-9247; 2223-3733
• DOI: 10.18800/psico.201701.004

The concept of alexithymia refers to impairments in the ability to identify and communicate feelings. Alexithymia has repeatedly been linked to attachment impairments and different types of symptomatology, in particular, depression and somatic complaints. Very few studies have focused on children or adolescents when addressing this construct. Additionally, to date, there is no self-report questionnaire of alexithymia for such groups in the Spanish language. The main objectives of this study were therefore, (a) to translate and adapt the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children to Spanish; (b) to assess the factor structure of the adapted questionnaire; and (c) to describe its reliability and validity, in a sample of N = 265 Peruvian adolescents aged 11-18 years. Internal consistency was acceptable for the DIF subscale (α = .74), and low for the DDF and EOT subscales (α = .55, and α = .47 respectively). A composite scale based on previous studies that merges DIF and DDF into one scale had an α = .75. Regarding the factor structure, a two-factor solution showed to have the best fit with the data (RMSEA = .05, SMRM = .04, CFI = .94). Convergent validity analyses indicated significant associations between alexithymia and attachment measurements (that ranged from r = - .15, p < .05, to r = .31, p < .05), somatic complaints (r = .38, p < .05, to r = .41, p < .05), and both internalizing and externalizing symptoms (r = .37, p < .05, to r = .46, p < .05). Future assessment and modifications are recommended for the EOT scale.