VALIDATION OF THE GERMAN VERSION OF THE 2 0-ITEM TORONTO ALEXITHYMIA SCALE IN NORMAL ADULTS AND PSYCHIATRIC-INPATIENTS

This paper describes the cross-validation of the German version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in normal adults (n = 306) as well as in a psychiatric inpatients sample (n = 101), The scale sh owed adequate estimates of internal consistency, split-half and test-r etest reliability, and a three-factor structure comparable to that obt ained for the English version of the TAS-20 which was found to be cons istent with the main features of the alexithymia construct. Evidence o f convergent validity of the German TAS-20 was demonstrated by signifi cant positive correlations with conceptual related psychometric scales . The finding of significantly higher alexithymia scores in the psychi atric patients sample as compared to normal adults underlined the clin ical validity of the German version of the TAS-20.