Emotions and psychopathology

Few psychological assessment instruments exist for Jamaicans. Studies that address the appropriateness of foreign instruments for Jamaicans are sparse and empirical focus on psychopathology and its aetiology in Jamaican adult s is virtually nonexistent. The present study addressed these deficits via Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) which revealed that factors on the Toron to Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Brief symptom Inventory (BSI) were not re plicated for a Jamaican sample (N=352). Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) o n the TAS-20 revealed one factor labelled Unawareness and Confusion Regardi ng Emotions(UCRE). Also EFA yielded six BSI dimensions labelled Somatic Com plaints, Paranoia, Hostility, Mild Depression/Dysthymia, Major Depression w ith Psychotic Features, and Agoraphobia with Panic. Regression analyses on the Jamaican-based TAS-20 and BSI factors revealed a positive relationship between UCRE and each BSI factor and total BSI score. Mild Depression, Agor aphobia. with Panic, Paranoia, Hostility, Mild Depression and Major Depress ion were higher for women and younger Jamaicans, respectively, but younger Jamaicans with higher UCRE scores had higher scores on Paranoia, Major Depr ession, and total score. The findings suggest that Jamaican mental health p olicy and programmes should focus on the difficulties some Jamaicans experi ence in recognising and expressing their emotions.