The assessment of alexithymia: psychometric properties and validity of the Bermond–Vorst alexithymia questionnaire

The measurement of alexithymia is commonly conducted by self-report questionnaires like the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Recently a new instrument has been developed, the Bermond–Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ), with the purpose of assessing the alexithymia construct more comprehensively than the TAS-20. The present study was intended to investigate the psychometric properties and the validity of the BVAQ in a clinical sample of 370 inpatients. To this end, the proposed 5-factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses and the internal consistencies of the BVAQ were determined. Further, the convergent validity with regard to the TAS-20 and the 5-factor model of personality was investigated. The fit of the data was acceptable for the 5-factor model of the BVAQ-40. The internal consistencies of the scale were acceptable only for the total score and the factors ‘Verbalizingʹ and ‘Identifyingʹ. However, the results showed evidence for the convergent validity of the BVAQ with the TAS-20 and the ‘Openness to experienceʹ, ‘Extraversionʹ and ‘Neuroticismʹ dimensions of the NEO-FFI. The BVAQ is a promising instrument and can be preliminarily recommended for the assessment of alexithymia, but its reliability needs to be improved. Further research is required to determine its convergent, discriminant, criterion, and predictive validity, especially with clinical samples.