VALIDATION STUDY OF THE TORONTO ALEXITHYMIA SCALE (TAS-26) IN CROATIAN POPULATION.

The aim of this study was to validate the Croatian translation of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26). For this purpose, 194 volunteers from the general population, both genders, aged between 18 and 60, were tested on this scale after it had undergone a repeated back-translation procedure by an independent bilingual translator. The mean total score on TAS-26 (mean ± SD) was 72.9±8.4. Cronbach's α-coefficient for the entire scale was 0.71, indicating the scale to be sufficiently reliable. When analyzing the α-coefficient of reliability for the entire scale, it was found that upon removal of one of the factors, only 3 factors ('I have physical sensations that even doctors don't understand'; 'When I'm upset, I don't know if I'm sad, frightened, or angry'; and 'I have feelings that I can't quite identify') would determine the α-coefficient of the entire scale amounting to less than 0.67, which would indicate insufficient reliability of the scale. The aforementioned factors belong to the group of F1 facet factors, the facet around which most items are grouped (n=12) and therefore the scale would be reliable enough even without the three factors. The results of factor analysis in our study confirmed the four-factor structure wherein most items are saturated by the first factor (n=12), and it denotes the alexithymia facet F1 (difficulty identifying feelings). Five items are saturated by the second factor and it denotes the alexithymia facet F2 (difficulty describing feelings), and the third factor which denotes facet F3 (reduced daydreaming) also saturated five items, whereas the fourth factor which denotes facet F4 (externally oriented thinking) saturated four items. The four listed facets explain 47.2% of variance wherein the highest percentage (20.1%) is attributed to facet F1, with facet F2 accounting for 12.1%, facet F3 for 7.5%, and facet F4 for 6.6% of variance.