IS ALEXITHYMIA A CULTURE-BOUND CONSTRUCT - VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE JAPANESE VERSIONS OF THE 20-ITEM TORONTO ALEXITHYMIA SCALE AND MODIFIED BETH-ISRAEL-HOSPITAL PSYCHOSOMATIC QUESTIONNAIRE

The possibility remains that alexithymia is a culture-bound construct. The authors examined the validity and reliability of the Japanese ver sions of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the modified Beth I srael Hospital Psychosomatic Questionnaire, testing two samples of 473 college students and 149 psychiatric outpatients. The face validity a nd internal consistencies were suggested by factor analysis, adequate internal consistency, relatively high test-retest correlations, and hi gh specificity and sensitivity. The Japanese versions of these two ale xithymia scales therefore seem suitable for use among college students and psychiatric outpatients. However, there were several problematic points which may be associated with cultural differences.