The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of th
e Observer Alexithymia Scale (OAS; Haviland, Warren, & Riggs, 2000) in a cl
inical setting Clinical and counseling psychologists used the OAS to rate o
utpatients (n = 192) with various Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Ment
al Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnoses. Reliabilit
y and validity data are similar to the initial nonclinical data (n = 819):
OAS scores are reliable (coefficient alpha = .90), and the five-factor stru
cture-Distant, Uninsightful, Somatizing, Humorless, and Ri.-id-was confirme
d. Moreover, the OAS does a relatively good job of differentiating clinical
from nonclinical cases. The OAS is psychometrically sound, and it appears
to be a useful tool for collecting and evaluating observer data on the clin
ically relevant, everyday expressions of alexithymia.