OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to explore the psychometrics and correlates of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) after myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: The TAS-20 and other self-report measures were administered 3-6 months after discharge to 1443 patients. RESULTS: Good internal reliability was confirmed for the total TAS-20 and two subscales (F1 and F2). The F3 showed low internal consistency linked to negatively keyed items. The prevalence of alexithymia was 30.2% at the first interview. Alexithymics were older, less educated, more likely to have previous MIs and had higher scores on all measures of negative emotions. Six-month test-retest reliability was.47 (n=167). Residual change score analysis showed patients with more education and a first MI had greater decreases in alexithymia than expected. CONCLUSIONS: The TAS-20 has adequate internal consistency in post-MI patients, and its correlates are similar to other reports. Low temporal stability suggests that secondary alexithymia is important after MI.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to explore the psychometrics and correlates of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) after myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: The TAS-20 and other self-report measures were administered 3-6 months after discharge to 1443 patients. RESULTS: Good internal reliability was confirmed for the total TAS-20 and two subscales (F1 and F2). The F3 showed low internal consistency linked to negatively keyed items. The prevalence of alexithymia was 30.2% at the first interview. Alexithymics were older, less educated, more likely to have previous MIs and had higher scores on all measures of negative emotions. Six-month test-retest reliability was.47 (n=167). Residual change score analysis showed patients with more education and a first MI had greater decreases in alexithymia than expected. CONCLUSIONS: The TAS-20 has adequate internal consistency in post-MI patients, and its correlates are similar to other reports. Low temporal stability suggests that secondary alexithymia is important after MI.
Authors: Katharina Ledermann; Roland von Känel; Jürgen Barth; Ulrich Schnyder; Hansjörg Znoj; Jean-Paul Schmid; Rebecca E Meister Langraff; Mary Princip Journal: Eur J Psychotraumatol Date: 2020-09-04
Authors: Rachel P Dreyer; Anthony J Pavlo; Anna Horne; Robert Dunn; Karina Danvers; John Brush; Mike Slade; Larry Davidson Journal: J Am Heart Assoc Date: 2021-09-28 Impact factor: 5.501