Cross-cultural alexithymia: validity of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in North American aboriginal populations.

Objective: The generalizability of the alexithymia construct to North American aboriginal culture was examined by assessing the replicability of the factor structure of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in two different adult samples. The study also assessed the reliability of the scale and the influence of gender, age, and education on alexithymia levels.

Method: The first sample was a community-based group of 123 aboriginal men and women; the second sample was 102 male aboriginal offenders.