Chinese version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire: psychometric properties and clinical applications

Xin-Lu Cai; Qingying Ye; Ke Ni; Lin Zhu; Qian Zhang; Minmin Yin; Zhe Zhang; Wei Wei; David A Preece; Bao-Ming Li

doi:10.1136/gpsych-2023-101281

Chinese version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire: psychometric properties and clinical applications

Gen Psychiatr. 2024 Mar 11;37(2):e101281. doi: 10.1136/gpsych-2023-101281. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Xin-Lu Cai^#^{1

2}, Qingying Ye^#¹, Ke Ni³, Lin Zhu¹, Qian Zhang¹, Minmin Yin⁴, Zhe Zhang¹, Wei Wei^{5

6

7}, David A Preece^{8

9}, Bao-Ming Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Brain Science and Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ Qiqihar Mental Health Center, Qiqihar, China.
⁴ Department of Special Education, Faculty of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁵ Department of Neurobiology, Affiliated Mental Health Center & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁶ Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁷ NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁸ School of Population Health and Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
⁹ School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The alexithymia trait is of high clinical interest. The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) was recently developed to enable detailed facet-level and valence-specific assessments of alexithymia.

Aims: In this paper, we introduce the first Chinese version of the PAQ and examine its psychometric properties and clinical applications.

Methods: In Study 1, the PAQ was administered to 990 Chinese participants. We examined its factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, as well as convergent, concurrent and discriminant validity. In Study 2, four groups, including a major depressive disorder (MDD) group (n=50), a matched healthy control group for MDD (n=50), a subclinical depression group (n=50) and a matched healthy control group for subclinical depression (n=50), were recruited. Group comparisons were conducted to assess the clinical relevance of the PAQ.

Results: In Study 1, the intended five-factor structure of the PAQ was found to fit the data well. The PAQ showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as good convergent, concurrent and discriminant validity. In Study 2, the PAQ was able to successfully distinguish the MDD group and the subclinical depression group from their matched healthy controls.

Conclusions: The Chinese version of the PAQ is a valid and reliable instrument for comprehensively assessing alexithymia in the general population and adults with clinical/subclinical depression.

Keywords: Depression; Emotions; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Psychometrics.