Assessment of alexithymia in patients with chronic illness: a comparison between the self-report 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale and the informant form Camelio Martina, Zito Luigia

Introduction: The self-report Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) is considered the gold standard of the assessment of alexithymia. A recognized limitation of TAS-20 is the lack of ability of alexithymic individuals in identifying and describing their own feelings, a sort of assessment paradox. To address this issue the Informant Form of TAS-20 (TAS-20-IF) has been proposed. The aim of this pilot study is to compare the TAS-20 with TAS-20-IF in patients with chronic illness. Methods: Sixty-four patients (n=46 with obesity and n=18 with chronic pain) completed the TAS-20 and their informants (N=64) completed the TAS-20-IF. Results: Multiple significant correlations in the moderate-to-high range (r>.30) were found between the two versions, except for the EOT subscale. No statistically significant differences between the TAS-20 and the TAS-20-IF were found in total scores and their subscales. Only scores of items 13 (t=2.23, p=.02) and 19 (t=1.98, p=.05) were significantly greater in TAS-20 than TAS-20-IF whereas the opposite results were found for items 12 (t=3.45, p=.001) and 18 (t=2.01, p=.04). Conclusions: In this study, except for four items (two of which within the EOT factor), no significant differences were found between TAS-20 and TAS-20-IF. Further research with larger samples is needed.