Cross-cultural validation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Chinese adolescents

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20-C) in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Method: Adolescents (n = 1260) recruited from three schools in mainland China completed the TAS-20-C, the somatization subscale of the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Five different factorial models of the TAS-20 were tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Cronbach's alpha, mean inter-item correlations and predictive validity were also evaluated. Results: Among those five different factorial models, the four-factor structure model was suitable and invariant across gender and age in this sample. The TAS-20-C demonstrated adequate internal reliability. Gender and age accounted for insignificant amounts of variability in total TAS-20-C and factor scores. TAS-20-C total and subscale scores were correlated significantly with SCL-90 somatization subscale and CES-D. Girls scored higher than boys on difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and pragmatic thinking (PR) subscales. DIF and lack of subjective significance or importance of emotions (IMs) subscale scores were higher among younger than among middle and older adolescents. Implications for Practice: Validating the TAS-20 in adolescents is quite important to use it in evaluating adolescents' alexithymia, and screen those at risk of alexithymia.