1 Pergamon zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Copyright 0 1995 Elsevter Sctence Ltd Prmted in Great Britain. All rights reserved zyxwvutsrqpon 0191~8869(95)00116-6 0191.8869/95-$9.50 + 0.00 zyxwvutsrqpo THE TORONTO ALEXITHYMIA SCALE WITH INCARCERATED OFFENDERS Daryl G. Kroner’,* and Adelle E. Forth’ ‘Millhaven Institution, P.O. Box 280, Bath, Ontario, Canada KOH IGO and ‘Carlton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K 1S 5B6 (Received 14 March 1995) Summary-The present study examined the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) in a sample of 508 male inmates incarcerated for sexual and violent offences. A confirmatory procedure applied to the 20-item version of the TAS (TAS-20) resulted in a two-factor solution: Emotional Understanding Deficit, and Experiencing and Utilizing Emotion, The factor scale of Emotional Understanding Deficit had a strong inverse relationship with social desirability measures and a positive relationship with all dimensions of psychopathology. On a measure of intelligence, Emotional Understanding Deficit and Experiencing and Utilizing Emotion scales had the expected verbal/performance discrepancy. Unexpected negative relationships occurred between the TAS and theoretically relevant dimensions from the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Although the results indicate limitations of the TAS-20’s usage with inmates, there was support for the TAS scales’ validity with an incarcerated sample. INTRODUCTION Alexithymia is a relatively new construct referring to a diminished ability to identify and/or communicate feelings. The construct first occurred in the psychosomatic literature with patients who had difficulty in verbal expression of emotions and elaboration of fantasies (Sifneos, 1972; Taylor, 1984). For clinicians working with psychosomatic patients, the construct of alexithymia provided a label for the failure of insight therapy with patients and allowed for the suggestion that this trait may predispose individuals to psychosomatic disease (Linden, Wen & Paulhus, in press). With the introduction of a new construct, it is important to determine the relationship with other, more established constructs. Alexithymia has been shown to be different from repression, trait anxiety (Martin & Pihl, 1986), and depression (Parker, Bagby & Taylor, 1991). Also, earlier work suggested that the association between alexithymia and the tendency to develop physical symptoms is not due to neurotic defenses against affects, drives, and fantasies (Nemiah, 1975). As expected. there is a positive relationship between alexithymia and hypochondriasis, thereby supporting a relationship between alexithymia and psychosomatic concerns (Bagby, Taylor & Ryan, 1986a). Alexithymics have a negative relationship with psychological mindedness (Bagby, Taylor & Parker, 199b; Bagby et al., 1986a) and respond poorly to insight oriented psychotherapy (Taylor & Bagby, 1988). Conceptually, the view of alexithymia as occurring along a continuum with individual shifts in communication style infers a single dimension (Taylor, 1984). Research, however, has shown the construct to be multidimensional. Dimensions include emotional awareness deficits, lack of imaginative ability, external, operative cognitive style (Hendryx, Haviland, Gibbons & Clark, 1992), difficulty in describing feelings, importance of feelings, and daydreaming (Bagby et al., 1986b). The construct of alexithymia may have implications for understanding emotionally based violent transactions, including the violence of psychopaths. Krystal (1979) indicated that alexithymics have violent bursts of emotional behavior, but are unaware of the underlying feelings expressed. Not being aware of feelings may contribute to an inability to experience empathy, and therefore violence. Although the lack of empathy is not a defining characteristic of alexithymia, identification of feelings is a prerequisite to communicating feelings to others and having empathy (cf. Sifneos, 1972). Psychopathy is a personality disorder defined by a constellation of personality and behavioral characteristics (Hare, 1991). Recent research indicates that the construct of psychopathy consists of two correlated factors; one defined by the interpersonal and affective characteristics labeled “callous, *To whom all correspondence should be addressed.