The Amsterdam Alexithymia Scale: Its psychometric values and correlations with other personality traits

Background: This article describes the construction and validation of the A msterdam Alexithymia Scale (AAS) and explores some of the nomological net o f alexithymia. Methods: Four correlational studies are presented. The inter nal structure of the AAS is explored by factor analyses on items. Correlati ons of the AAS with sex and (Guilford) intellectual abilities are establish ed. Mean scores of three different professional groups are compared. Correl ations between the AAS and several clinical and personality scales are dete rmined. Students served as subjects in all studies (347<n<559). Results: Th e 20-item AAS has a stable 5-factor structure, covering 5 defining features of alexithymia: difficulties in, respectively, experiencing emotions, fant asizing, analyzing emotions, differentiating between emotions and verbalizi ng emotions. The AAS showed to be reliable. 'The AAS scores were independen t of verbal and nonverbal 10. As expected, the AAS scores turned out to be significantly lower in a group of dramatic art students and significantly h igher in a group of math and artificial intelligence students, when compare d to psychology students. The AAS scores correlated negatively with extrove rsion, positively with social inadequacy and not with neuroticism. Finally, correlations between the AAS and the Adjective Check List scores indicated that alexithymia is associated with, respectively, a neglect of own needs and impulses, a reduced capability to understand social situations and a te ndency to stick to rules rigidly, to flee into social isolation, to be subm issive, to avoid commitment and to experiences of lack of personal meaning in life. Conclusion: The AAS is the first instrument measuring the 5 defini ng features of alexithymia reliably and validly.