Alexithymia following myocardial infarction: Psychometric properties and correlates of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale

• Published in: Journal of psychosomatic research Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 487 - 495
• Main Authors: Kojima, Masayo, Frasure-Smith, Nancy, Lespérance, François
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.09.2001; New York, NY Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Affective Symptoms - diagnosis; Affective Symptoms - epidemiology; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alexithymia; Biological and medical sciences; Canada - epidemiology; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology); Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Myocardial infarction; Myocardial Infarction - mortality; Myocardial Infarction - psychology; Patients; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales - standards; Psychological tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometric properties; Psychometrics; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Reproducibility of Results; Survivors - psychology; Survivors - statistics & numerical data; TAS-20; Techniques and methods; Toronto Alexithymia Scale; Canada; Myocardial infarction; TAS-20; Alexithymia; Human; Factor analysis; Infarct; Disease; Evaluation scale; Prediction; Cardiovascular disease; Psychometrics; Personality; Psychological effect; Test reliability; Coronary heart disease; Myocardial disease; Intertrial interval; Toronto Alexithymia Scale; Test validation; Follow up study; Myocardium; Comparative study; Somatic disease; Principal component analysis
• ISSN: 0022-3999; 1879-1360
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3999(01)00253-7

Objective: The purpose was to explore the psychometrics and correlates of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) after myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: The TAS-20 and other self-report measures were administered 3–6 months after discharge to 1443 patients. Results: Good internal reliability was confirmed for the total TAS-20 and two subscales (F1 and F2). The F3 showed low internal consistency linked to negatively keyed items. The prevalence of alexithymia was 30.2% at the first interview. Alexithymics were older, less educated, more likely to have previous MIs and had higher scores on all measures of negative emotions. Six-month test–retest reliability was .47 ( n=167). Residual change score analysis showed patients with more education and a first MI had greater decreases in alexithymia than expected. Conclusions: The TAS-20 has adequate internal consistency in post-MI patients, and its correlates are similar to other reports. Low temporal stability suggests that secondary alexithymia is important after MI.