Cross-cultural alexithymia: validity of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in North American aboriginal populations.

OBJECTIVE The generalizability of the alexithymia construct to North American aboriginal culture was examined by assessing the replicability of the factor structure of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in two different adult samples. The study also assessed the reliability of the scale and the influence of gender, age, and education on alexithymia levels. METHOD The first sample was a community-based group of 123 aboriginal men and women; the second sample was 102 male aboriginal offenders. Both samples completed the TAS-20. RESULTS The replicability of the three-factor structure for the TAS-20 was supported in both groups using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The TAS-20 and its three factors demonstrated adequate internal reliability, and the variables of gender, age, and education accounted for small or nonsignificant amounts of variability in total TAS-20 and factor scale scores. CONCLUSION The results provide additional support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in diverse cultural groups.