E-ISSN : 2733-4538
This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Korean Alexithymia Scale. The scale was based on the 20-item Alexithymia Scale and consisted of 23 items. The scale was administerd to 356 college students and 65 psychiatric patients. The results of factor analysis suggested 3 factor structures. The first factor measures the ability to identify emotion and to discriminate between emotion and somatic sensations. The second factor measures externally oriented thinking. And the third factor measures the ability to express and communicate emotion. Alpha-coefficient, test-retest reliability, and item-total correlation of factor 1 and factor 3 were high for two groups. But internal consistency of factor 2 was insufficient, particularly in psychiatric patients. The concurrent validity and the discriminant validity of factor 1 and factor 3 were high. The correlations of factor 1 with somatization scale of SCL-90-R and WI were high. And the correlations of factor 3 with somatization scale of SCL-90-R and EES were also high. But the validity of factor 2 was insufficient. Finally the implications for future study were discussed.