The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale: validation of factor solutions using confirmatory factor analysis on physiotherapy out-patients.

Objective. Whilst the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was developed to measure three intercorrelated dimensions, there is some debate as to whether the scale is best served by a two- or three-factor construct. In particular, there is some doubt as to whether clinical data exhibit the third factor. This study uses data from a sample of physiotherapy (physical therapy) out-patients in the UK to validate the factorial structure of a set of models postulated in the literature, including the three-factor model hypothesized by Bagby et al. (1994). Method. Data were collected from a sample of physiotherapy out-patients (N =242). Specialist factor analysis software (LISREL 8.54) was used to perform confirmatory factor analyses on a range of models proposed in the literature. Results. The analysis supports the three-factor model assumed by Bagby et al. (1994), as well as most of the two-factor models suggested in the literature. Conclusions. This new set of clinical data supports most of the two- and three-factor models postulated in the recent literature, including the three-factor model advocated by Bagby et al. (1994).