Rieffe, C., Oosterveld, P. and Meerum Terwogt, M., Novin, S., Nasiri, H. & Latifian, M. (2010). Relationship
between alexithymia, mood and internalizing symptoms in children and young adolescents: Evidence from an
Iranian sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 425 /C0430.
Results and Comments
There are indications for reliability, sufficient factor-structure, and convergent validity, indicating that the
TAS12 could be used for alexithymia measurement in children, especially if the items are rephrased in children’s
language. However, the scale does not cover all alexithymia facets as described by Nemiah and Sifneos (1970),
and more research is warranted.
TAS-12 Sample Items
1.It is difficult for me to find the right words for my feelings (TAS-12).
2.I find it difficult to say how I feel inside (TAS-12 Rieffe).
3.I have feelings that I can’t quite identify (TAS-12).
4.Sometimes I can’t find the words to say how I feel inside (TAS-12 Rieffe).
5.I find it hard to describe how I feel about people (TAS-12).
6.I find it hard to say how I feel about people (TAS-12 Rieffe).
7.I often don’t know why I am angry (TAS-12).
8.I often don’t know why I am angry (TAS-12 Rieffe).
Emotional Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ-30)
(Rieffe et al., 2008 ).
Variable
Rieffe et al. (2007) broadened the alexithymia construct by adding three facets (assumed to be related to alex-
ithymia) to three already accepted alexithymia facets, and developed a children’s self-rating scale: ‘The Emotional
Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ)’ for these six facets, and revised the scale a year later ( Rieffe et al., 2008 ),
resulting in the EAQ-30.
Description
The 30-item EAQ-30 comprises six subscales, three of which are related to facets of the TAS-20 and BVAQ:
‘Differentiating emotions’ (DIF, 7 items); ‘Verbal sharing emotions’ (VERB, 3 items); and ‘Analyzing emotions’
(ANA, 5 items). The other subscales refer to constructs, assumed to be related to alexithymia: ‘Not hiding emo-
tion’ (NHE, 5 items); ‘Bodily awareness’ (BA, 5 items); and ‘Attending to others emotions’ (AOE, 5 items). Items
are written in children’s language, and most have face validity for their facet. However, two items of the DIF sub-
scale refer to the cause of an emotional reaction, and, not to the capacity to differentiate between various emo-
tions. Although 17 of the 30 items are negatively keyed, these contra-indicative items are unequally distributed
over the subscales. Finally the subscale VERB contains only three items.
Sample
The initial sample in the Rieffe et al. (2008) study comprised 403 primary school children ( M510 years,
8 months; SD5.93 months) and 303 secondary school children ( M514 years, 3 months; SD514 months). Data
for 41 participants (with more than 6 missing values) were excluded. The final sample comprised 297 boys and
368 girls.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Rieffe et al. (2008) reported Cronbach alpha coefficients for the EAQ-30 subscales in the elementary school
sample #.7 (range .64 to .68), and in the high school sample $.7 (range .74 to .77). Lahaye et al. (2011) , as well
as Camodeca and Rieffe (2012) reported comparable alpha coefficients for five different samples.250 9. MEASURES OF ALEXITHYMIA
III. EMOTION REGULATION