DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALEXITHYMIA SCALE FOR CHILDREN - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

The Alexithymia Scale for Children-Teacher Form was developed with a s ample of 286 elementary schoolchildren. The validity and reliability o f the measure were supported by factor analytic structure, relatively high internal consistency, test-retest correlation over 2 mo., and cor relations of .24 to .39 with scores on the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Test. Factor analysis yielded two factors related to alexithymia, Dif ficulty in Describing Feelings and Difficulty Relating to Others. Alex ithymia constructs such as a paucity of fantasy life and externally or iented thinking were not recorded.