Assessing the reliability and validity of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire among US Anglo and US Hispanic samples

Objective: The aim of this paper is to assess the psychometric properties of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) in U.S. Anglo and U.S. Hispanic samples of college students. Method: One hundred ninety-four U.S. Hispanics and 304 U.S. Anglos participated in the study. In addition to completing the BVAQ, participants completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Eysenck Neuroticism Scale (ENS). Results: BVAQ and TAS-20 subscales were correlated across groups. While the identifying and verbalizing composites of the BVAQ subscales were predictive of neuroticism and depression across groups in the expected direction, the fantasizing subscale of the BVAQ was negatively predictive of depression and neuroticism across groups. Conclusion: Given the unexpected findings associated with some of the BVAQ subscales, future research should explore the dimensionality of alexithymia. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.