Graeme J Taylor

• MD
• Professor Emeritus at University of Toronto

The concept of pensée opératoire (operational thinking) was introduced by French psychoanalysts in 1963 and a decade later was included as an essential component of the alexithymia construct as formulated by the U.S. analysts John Nemiah and Peter Sifneos. Despite a large body of research on alexithymia, the pensée opératoire component is not well...

The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) is the most widely used instrument for assessing alexithymia, with more than 25 years of research supporting its reliability and validity. The items that compose this scale were written to operationalize the components of the construct that are based on clinical observations of patients and thought to...

The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) is the most widely used measure to assess the personality construct of alexithymia and is composed of three-factor analytically derived subscales. These subscales measure and represent three critical, theoretically based facets of alexithymia. The subscales are distinct, yet highly interrelated and onl...

Four subtypes of the alexithymia construct have been proposed based on different response patterns to the Cognitive and Affective dimensions of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ). Previous studies investigating whether alexithymia subtypes can be statistically estimated have not found complete support for these specific subtypes. Th...

Objective: Twenty-five years ago, this journal published two articles reporting the development and initial validation of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Since then the literature on alexithymia has burgeoned with the vast majority of this research using the TAS-20, including multiple language translations of the scale. Method: I...

Cambridge Core - Health and Clinical Psychology - Alexithymia - edited by Olivier Luminet

The Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) was developed to provide a structured interview method for assessing alexithymia. One drawback of this instrument is the amount of time it takes to administer and score. The current study used item response theory (IRT) methods to analyze data from a large heterogeneous multi-language sample (...

Previous studies have found that alexithymia predicts process and outcome of psychodynamic psychotherapy across a range of psychiatric disorders. There is preliminary evidence that alexithymia may exert its effects on outcome through the therapist. Other studies have found that alexithymia does not influence outcome of cognitive-behavioral therapy...

Alexithymia is a clinically relevant personality construct characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings, externally oriented thinking, and impoverished imaginal processes. Previous taxometric investigations provided evidence that alexithymia is best conceptualized as a continuous dimension rather than a discrete type, at least...

There is some ongoing controversy surrounding the definition and measurement of the alexithymia construct. Whereas most researchers describe 4 components comprising the construct (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, restricted fantasizing, and externally oriented thinking), some include a 5th component, which is defined...

The recent proposal of a new type of agnosia termed ‘affective agnosia’ extends Freud’s legacy and captures the concept of not knowing one’s own emotions. This concept links well with the theory of levels of emotional awareness and maps onto a hierarchical model of neural substrates of emotional experience, but does not encompass the pensée opérato...

Background: Although there is evidence supporting the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in decreasing psychologic symptoms and improving health-related quality of life in patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery, the effectiveness of these interventions in usual health care practice, and their effect on general...

Although Freud considered castration to be one of the two major anxieties of human life, the castration complex has been relatively neglected in contemporary psychoanalytic writing and is insufficiently discussed in presentations of clinical cases. This article discusses the relevance of the concept to contemporary psychoanalysis and psychodynamic...

. The alexithymia construct is commonly measured with the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), with more than 20 different language translations. Despite replication of the factor structure, however, it cannot be assumed that observed differences in mean TAS-20 scores can be interpreted similarly across different languages and cultural group...

Alexithymia is a multifaceted personality construct that reflects deficits in affect awareness (difficulty identifying feelings, DIF; difficulty describing feelings, DDF) and operative thinking (externally oriented thinking, EOT; restricted imaginal processes, IMP), and is associated with several common psychiatric disorders. Over the years, resear...

Il volume è la prima opera sistematizzata a livello mondiale dedicata allo strumento Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA). La TSIA, nata dalle riflessioni teoriche e dalla ricerca empirica di Graeme J. Taylor e R. Michael Bagby, è considerata oggi il criterio più affidabile per la misurazione del costrutto di alessitimia. Il testo co...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) in a clinical sample. The TSIA and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were administered to 85 psychiatric inpatients and to 76 medical outpatients with the symptom of tinnitus. Both internal a...

Researchers are increasingly administering tests developed and validated in paper format via the Internet. Yet, the equivalence between paper and Internet concerning administration of tests is not typically demonstrated. We evaluated the reliability, factorial and external validity, and measurement equivalency of the Internet version of the 20-item...

En la esclerosis múltiple (EM) son escasas las investigaciones centradas en evaluar la alexitimia con la Escala de Alexitimia de Toronto (TAS-20). A pesar de ello, no se ha evaluado aún su estructura factorial en dicha población y, además, las anteriores traducciones al español necesitan modificaciones. Los objetivos del presente estudio fueron eva...

An extensive body of research on the alexithymia construct is reviewed to show how various empirical methodologies can be used to evaluate the validity and increase our understanding of theoretical and clinically derived psychoanalytic concepts. The historical background of alexithymia and the theoretical framework in which the construct was formul...

There have been a small number of investigations of alexithymia in multiple sclerosis (MS) using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). However, the TAS-20 factor structure has not yet been evaluated in a MS patient sample, and earlier Spanish translations of this instrument require some improvement. We aimed to evaluate the factorial vali...

Studied the development and validity of the Portuguese version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale in 133 adults (general population sample) and 298 university students (aged 18-62 yrs) in Portugal. Data on sociodemographic variables and clinical and psychological symptoms were obtained by questionnaire. Factorial analysis and other statistical tests...

Reviews the historical background and clinical features of the alexithymia construct. The authors then discuss some similarities and differences between alexithymia, emotional intelligence, and other conceptually related constructs and review findings from empirical studies that have examined the relationships between alexithymia and these other co...

The reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) have been demonstrated in previous studies with English-speaking community and psychiatric samples and a German-speaking psychiatric sample. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSIA in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample...

John Nemiah was interested in the impact of emotionally traumatic events on mental and bodily processes and in conceptualizing the psychological defenses and deficits that contribute to the development of psychological and somatic symptoms. He viewed dissociation as the central psychological mechanism in the formation of a spectrum of symptoms, and...

To assess preoperative depression in middle-aged men undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and to determine if depression is related to perioperative outcomes. One hundred and nine middle-aged male patients were randomly selected and assessed for depression one day before CABG using the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90R). Perio...

Results from a recent taxometric investigation of the alexithymia construct, measured by the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), with English-speaking samples in Canada provided evidence that alexithymia is best conceptualized as a dimensional rather than a categorical construct. The aim of the current investigation was to attempt to genera...

The purpose of the current investigation was (1) to test whether the 3-factor structure of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) corresponding to the theoretical conceptualization of the alexithymia construct could be recovered in a Greek translation of the scale (the TAS-20-G), (2) to assess if a 3-factor structure provides a better fit t...

The aim of this study was to investigate the viability of Type I and Type II alexithymia proposed by Vorst and Bermond (2001) and defined by Affective and Cognitive higher-order factors as measured by the Bermond–Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ). Using data from a large international database, confirmatory factor and cluster analyses were con...

Recently, the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) was developed to supplement the self-assessment of alexithymia and/or offer a different method of measuring the alexithymia construct. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a German language translation of the TSIA in a psychiatric patient sample. Trans...

Despite a wealth of research on the validity of alexithymia and its association with a number of common medical and psychiatric disorders, the fundamental question of whether alexithymia is best conceptualized as a dimensional or categorical construct remains unresolved. In the current investigation, taxometric analysis is used to examine the natur...

The present study examined the relationship between alexithymia and self-reported sleep problems and the influence of sleep hygiene on sleep problems. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Sleep Problems Inventory were administered to a non-clinical sample of 2045 young adults. Alexithymic individuals (N = 228) scored significantly higher t...

Although patients with medically unexplained chronic pain are sometimes referred for psychiatric consultation, it is rare for them to be recommended for a psychoanalytically informed treatment. Moreover, because they experience their distress as primarily physical, it is difficult to engage such patients in psychoanalysis. Nonetheless, the psychoan...

Gignac, Palmer, and Stough (2007/this issue) test a number of different latent factor models for the TAS-20 using a community sample of 355 participants and conclude that this scale is best represented by a "nested factors model," with five substantive factors and a method factor. Gignac et al. also report that the correlated three-factor model and...

The purpose of the present study was to develop a Chinese translation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20-C) and examine its reliability and factorial validity. The original English version of the TAS-20 was first translated into Chinese and then backtranslated and modified until cross-language equivalence was established. This version...

Despite increasing emphasis on using multiple methods to assess personality constructs in psychosomatic research, previous investigations of relations between alexithymia and type A behavior (TAB) have been limited by the use of single methods of measurement and almost no attempt to assess subcomponents of TAB. The aims of this study were to (1) ev...

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether preoperative alexithymia might play a role in the persistence of gastrointestinal symptoms after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A sample of 52 consecutive patients with gallstone disease and symptoms of dyspepsia were assessed with validated scales for alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale), and...

Alexithymia is a multifaceted personality construct that is thought to reflect a deficit in the cognitive processing of emotions. The effects of low vs. high Alexithymia, neutral vs. positive vs. negative words processed, and perceptual vs. semantic processing on memory were investigated in a group of 82 students using the levels of processing para...

Assessments of personality constructs increasingly use self-report and structured interview instruments, which allow for a multimethod measurement approach and decrease specific measurement method bias. The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable structured interview for assessing the alexithymia construct. Sixty interview questions w...

The personality construct of alexithymia is thought to reflect a deficit in the cognitive processing and regulation of emotional states. To explore the relations between alexithymia and emotional responding, 50 older adults (28 men, 22 women) were studied across different contexts: (1) initial exposure to an emotion‐evoking movie; (2) second exposu...

Alexithymia and psychopathology may influence the way individuals experience psychological distress and somatic symptoms. This study evaluated patients referred to psychiatric and gastroenterologic outpatient settings in order to investigate the levels of alexithymia and psychopathology, and the possible role of alexithymia in symptom perception an...

Research investigating the alexithymia construct is advancing rapidly and has broadened considerably in recent years as a result of interdisciplinary efforts, new methodologies, and experimental techniques. New developments in the field include a shift from measurement-based validational studies to experimental investigations, which explore the rel...

Some researchers have questioned the stability of the three-factor structure of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) or the reliability of one or more factors of the scale. The aim of this study was to assess the replicability of the factor structure of the TAS-20 in a large community sample and to determine also whether the same three-fa...

The aim of this paper was to review findings from studies that have evaluated the reliability and factorial validity of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in different languages and cultures. Data from published articles as well as unpublished data from various countries were reviewed to determine whether the three-factor structure of t...

A previous study found a strong association between alexithymia and functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID). The objective of this study was to investigate whether alexithymia might be a predictor of treatment outcome in patients with FGID. A group of FGID outpatients classified by the 'Rome I' criteria was divided into improved (N= 68) and un...

The terms somatization and conversion are used descriptively to define specific diagnostic entities, and phenomenologically to denote pathologic processes that underlie somatic symptom formation. There is a lack of clarity, and even controversy, however, as to whether somatization and conversion should be considered distinct or overlapping construc...

To provide an overview of George Engel's psychoanalytic approach and contributions to psychosomatic medicine. Engel's publications were reviewed to identify his use of psychoanalytic methods and concepts to explore and conceptualize the interrelationships among mind, body and environment in health and disease. Engel's contributions include an inter...

Previous studies demonstrating an association between alexithymia and depression have led to the proposal that alexithymia may be a state-dependent phenomenon rather than a stable and enduring personality trait. Several longitudinal studies have provided support for a trait view of alexithymia, but most of these studies evaluated absolute stability...

In this study, the empirical association between the apparently similar constructs of emotional intelligence and alexithymia was examined using latent variable analysis in a large community sample of adults (N=734). The Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) were used to assess alexithymia a...

Looks at alexythmia and shows how it overlaps with low levels of emotional intelligence (EI). Findings from studies showing how alexithymia and low EI may contribute to problems in interpersonal relationships and in coping with stress are reviewed. Finally, empirical evidence of associations between alexithymia and various mental illnesses is prese...

To review recent developments in alexithymia theory and research that are relevant to the field of psychosomatic medicine. Articles were selected from the alexithymia literature published over the past decade that describe advances in the theoretical understanding of alexithymia or report empirical investigations of the relationships of the constru...

The purpose of this study was to develop a new Swedish translation of the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and to examine if the theoretical structure that underlies the factor structure of the English version of the TAS-20 could be recovered in this Swedish translation of the instrument. A sample of 157 undergraduate students of psyc...

: The relationship between alexithymia and locus of control was explored in a clinical group comprised of 50 general practice patients and 74 patients with inflam-matory bowel disease, and in a nonclinical group comprised of 218 medical students. Alexithymia was associated positi-vely with the powerful others and chance dimensions of ex-ternal locu...