The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S): A 6-item measure of alexithymia

David A Preece; Ashish Mehta; Kate Petrova; Pilleriin Sikka; Johan Bjureberg; Wai Chen; Rodrigo Becerra; Alfred Allan; Ken Robinson; James J Gross

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.036

The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S): A 6-item measure of alexithymia

J Affect Disord. 2023 Mar 15:325:493-501. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.036. Epub 2023 Jan 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Curtin University, Curtin enAble Institute, Perth, Australia; Curtin University, School of Population Health, Perth, Australia; University of Western Australia, School of Psychological Science, Perth, Australia. Electronic address: david.preece@curtin.edu.au.
² Stanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, United States.
³ Stanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, United States; University of Turku, Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Finland; University of Turku, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Finland; University of Skövde, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy, Sweden.
⁴ Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Sweden; Stockholm County Council, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ Curtin University, Curtin enAble Institute, Perth, Australia; Curtin University, Curtin Medical School, Perth, Australia; University of Western Australia, Graduate School of Education, Perth, Australia; University of Notre Dame Australia, School of Medicine, Perth, Australia; Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; Fiona Stanley Hospital, Mental Health Service, Perth, Australia.
⁶ University of Western Australia, School of Psychological Science, Perth, Australia.
⁷ Edith Cowan University, School of Arts and Humanities, Perth, Australia.

PMID: 36642314
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.036

Abstract

Background: Alexithymia is a trait characterized by difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. It is widely regarded as an important transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of psychopathologies, including depressive and anxiety disorders. Whilst several well-validated psychometric measures of alexithymia exist, these are relatively lengthy, thus limiting their utility in time-pressured settings. In this paper, we address this gap by introducing and validating a brief 6-item version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire, called the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S).

Method: Across two studies with adult samples (Study 1 N = 508 United States community; Study 2 = 378 Australian college students), we examined the psychometric properties of the PAQ-S in terms of its factor structure, reliability, and concurrent/criterion validity.

Results: In exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, all PAQ-S items loaded well on a single general alexithymia factor. The PAQ-S total score had high reliability, and correlated as expected with the long-form of the PAQ, as well as other established markers of alexithymia, emotion regulation, and affective disorder symptoms.

Limitations: Our samples were general community or college student samples from two Western countries; future validation work in clinical samples and more diverse cultural groups is thus needed.

Conclusions: The PAQ-S retains the psychometric strengths of the PAQ. As such, the PAQ-S can be used as a quick, robust measure of overall alexithymia levels. The introduction of the PAQ-S hence enables valid assessments of alexithymia in a more diverse range of settings and research designs.

Keywords: Alexithymia; Assessment; Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire; Psychometrics; Questionnaire.

MeSH terms

Adult
Affective Symptoms* / diagnosis
Affective Symptoms* / psychology
Australia
Emotions*
Humans
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires