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Psychometric Properties and Configural Invariance of the Polish - Language Version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Non-clinical and Alcohol Addict Persons.

ABSTRACT: Aim:The development and assessment of the psychometric properties of the Polish-language version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby et al., 1994a, b) is described in this article. The aim of this study was to translate the TAS - 20 into Polish and establish the psychometric properties of this instrument evaluating alexithymia. Materials and Methods:Data were collected via self-report measures from a total sample of 676 participants: a total of 180 participants (115 males and 65 females) diagnosed with alcohol dependence, and 496 control group (347 males and 149 females). Results:Confirmatory factor analyses found the factor structure of the original English-language TAS 20 for the three subscales translated into Polish: Difficulty in Identifying Feeling (DIF); Difficulty in Describing Feeling (DDF); Externally Oriented Thinking (EOT). All three subscales showed good internal consistency in non-clinical group and two subscales, DIF and DDF in alcohol addict group. Several EOT items loaded poorly on their intended factor. Conclusion:The results from the present study indicate that the Polish version of the TAS - 20 is a reliable and valid measure of alexithymia with good levels of internal consistency, homogeneity, and construct validity. We conclude that the TAS-20 has, for the most part, adequate psychometric properties, though interpretation should focus only on the total scale score and DIF and DDF subscales, especially in clinical groups.

SUBMITTER: Scigala DK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7311651 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Psychometric Properties and Configural Invariance of the Polish - Language Version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Non-clinical and Alcohol Addict Persons.

Ścigała Dawid Konrad DK Zdankiewicz-Ścigała Elżbieta E Bedyńska Sylwia S Kokoszka Andrzej A

Frontiers in psychology 20200617

<h4>Aim</h4>The development and assessment of the psychometric properties of the Polish-language version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby et al., 1994a, b) is described in this article. The aim of this study was to translate the TAS - 20 into Polish and establish the psychometric properties of this instrument evaluating alexithymia.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Data were collected via self-report measures from a total sample of 676 participants: a total of 180 participants (115 males and ...[more]

PMID: 32625145

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Project description:BackgroundAlexithymia, a personality trait characterized by difficulties interpreting emotional states, is commonly elevated in autistic adults, and a growing body of literature suggests that this trait underlies several cognitive and emotional differences previously attributed to autism. Although questionnaires such as the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) are frequently used to measure alexithymia in the autistic population, few studies have investigated the psychometric properties of these questionnaires in autistic adults, including whether differential item functioning (I-DIF) exists between autistic and general population adults.MethodsThis study is a revised version of a previous article that was retracted due to copyright concerns (Williams and Gotham in Mol Autism 12:1-40). We conducted an in-depth psychometric analysis of the TAS-20 in a large sample of 743 cognitively able autistic adults recruited from the Simons Foundation SPARK participant pool and 721 general population controls enrolled in a large international psychological study. The factor structure of the TAS-20 was examined using confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory was used to generate a subset of the items that were strong indicators of a "general alexithymia" factor. Correlations between alexithymia and other clinical outcomes were used to assess the nomological validity of the new alexithymia score in the SPARK sample.ResultsThe TAS-20 did not exhibit adequate model fit in either the autistic or general population samples. Empirically driven item reduction was undertaken, resulting in an 8-item general alexithymia factor score (GAFS-8, with "TAS" no longer referenced due to copyright) with sound psychometric properties and practically ignorable I-DIF between diagnostic groups. Correlational analyses indicated that GAFS-8 scores, as derived from the TAS-20, meaningfully predict autistic trait levels, repetitive behaviors, and depression symptoms, even after controlling for trait neuroticism. The GAFS-8 also presented no meaningful decrement in nomological validity over the full TAS-20 in autistic participants.LimitationsLimitations of the current study include a sample of autistic adults that was majority female, later diagnosed, and well educated; clinical and control groups drawn from different studies with variable measures; only 16 of the TAS-20 items being administered to the non-autistic sample; and an inability to test several other important psychometric characteristics of the GAFS-8, including sensitivity to change and I-DIF across multiple administrations.ConclusionsThese results indicate the potential of the GAFS-8 to robustly measure alexithymia in both autistic and non-autistic adults. A free online score calculator has been created to facilitate the use of norm-referenced GAFS-8 latent trait scores in research applications (available at https://asdmeasures.shinyapps.io/alexithymia ).

Project description:BackgroundAlexithymia, a personality trait characterized by difficulties interpreting one's own emotional states, is commonly elevated in autistic adults, and a growing body of literature suggests that this trait underlies a number of cognitive and emotional differences previously attributed to autism, such as difficulties in facial emotion recognition and reduced empathy. Although questionnaires such as the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) are frequently used to measure alexithymia in the autistic population, few studies have attempted to determine the psychometric properties of these questionnaires in autistic adults, including whether differential item functioning (I-DIF) exists between autistic and general population adults.MethodsWe conducted an in-depth psychometric analysis of the TAS-20 in a large sample of 743 verbal autistic adults recruited from the Simons Foundation SPARK participant pool and 721 general population controls enrolled in a large international psychological study (the Human Penguin Project). The factor structure of the TAS-20 was examined using confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory was used to further refine the scale based on local model misfit and I-DIF between the groups. Correlations between alexithymia and other clinical outcomes such as autistic traits, anxiety, and quality-of-life were used to assess the nomological validity of the revised alexithymia scale in the SPARK sample.ResultsThe TAS-20 did not exhibit adequate global model fit in either the autistic or general population samples. Empirically driven item reduction was undertaken, resulting in an eight-item unidimensional scale (TAS-8) with sound psychometric properties and practically ignorable I-DIF between diagnostic groups. Correlational analyses indicated that TAS-8 scores meaningfully predict autistic trait levels, anxiety and depression symptoms, and quality of life, even after controlling for trait neuroticism.LimitationsLimitations of the current study include a sample of autistic adults that was overwhelmingly female, later-diagnosed, and well-educated; clinical and control groups drawn from different studies with variable measures; and an inability to test several other important psychometric characteristics of the TAS-8, including sensitivity to change and I-DIF across multiple administrations.ConclusionsThese results indicate the potential of the TAS-8 as a psychometrically robust tool to measure alexithymia in both autistic and non-autistic adults. A free online score calculator has been created to facilitate the use of norm-referenced TAS-8 latent trait scores in research applications (available at http://asdmeasures.shinyapps.io/TAS8_Score ).

Project description:BackgroundThe Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) is an instrument with good psychometric properties that is widely used to assess alcohol craving. Based on the assumption that the experience of craving is independent of substance type, the Polish version of the PACS was modified to measure drug craving, thus creating the Penn Drug Craving Scale (PDCS). The analyses presented in the paper aim to verify the hypothesis that the PDCS has a unidimensional structure, is highly reliable and features longitudinal measurement invariance.MethodsThe research was conducted in 14 inpatient and 13 outpatient randomly selected facilities that provide psychosocial therapy to people with substance use disorder (SUD) in Poland, during June 2018 -July 2019. The data used for the analyses came from 282 patients diagnosed on the basis of ICD-10 criteria (F11.2-F19.2). The paper presents analyses with the application of: [1] confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) conducted on the basis of a polychoric correlation matrix and the WLSMV estimator; [2] a reliability estimate using Cronbach's alpha and coefficient omega; [3] verification of longitudinal measurement invariance between the beginning and end of therapy; [4] evaluation of criterion validity; [5] normalisation of the raw scores.ResultsThe CFA results confirmed a unidimensional PDCS structure (RMSEA = 0.047, 95% CI: 0.000-0.103; CFI = 0.999; TLI = 0.999) and a high reliability of the scale (ω = 0.93). Moreover, a strict longitudinal measurement invariance of the instrument was confirmed.ConclusionsAccurate assessment of craving is possible only with valid and reliable instruments. Therefore, the psychometric properties of the PDCS were verified based on the latest statistical approaches. The scale is a valid and highly reliable tool featuring longitudinal measurement invariance and can be usefully used for research and clinical purposes. Thus, the Polish version of the PACS has been modified and successfully applied to the population of people with SUD.

Dataset Information

Psychometric Properties and Configural Invariance of the Polish - Language Version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Non-clinical and Alcohol Addict Persons.

Publications

Psychometric Properties and Configural Invariance of the Polish - Language Version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Non-clinical and Alcohol Addict Persons.

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