Toronto Alexithymia Scale: Adaptação da Versão Brasileira para Adultos de Baixa Escolaridade

For the purpose of studying Alexithymia in low-educated adults, we intend to adapt the Brazilian version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26) and to verify its internal consistency. With that aim, we translated the original TAS-26 (English) to Portuguese, adopting a colloquial language, without content distortion. An exploratory qualitative study interviewed 50 women (38-65 years, educationCon objeto de estudiar la Alexitimia en adultos con bajo nivel de educación, buscamos adaptar la versión brasileña de la Escala de Alexitimia de Toronto (TAS-26) y comprobar su consistencia interna. Para esto, traducimos la TAS-26 original (inglés) al portugués, con la adopción de un lenguaje sencillo, sin cambiar el contenido. Una encuesta cualitativa entrevistó a 50 mujeres (38-65 años, escolaridadCom objetivo de estudar a alexitimia em indivíduos adultos de baixa escolaridade, decidimos adaptar a versão brasileira da Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26) e verificar sua consistência interna. Para isso, traduzimos a TAS-26 original (inglês) para o português, com linguagem coloquial, sem alteração de conteúdo. Em estudo exploratório qualitativo foram entrevistadas 50 mulheres (38-65 anos, escolaridad

Toronto Alexithymia Scale: Adaptation of the Brazilian Version to Low-Educated Adults

Abstract: For the purpose of studying Alexithymia in low-educated adults, we intend to adapt the Brazilian version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26) and to verify its internal consistency. With that aim, we translated the original TAS-26 (English) to Portuguese, adopting a colloquial language, without content distortion. An exploratory qualitative study interviewed 50 women (38-65 years, education <9 years) and identified comprehension difficulties in 22 items, that needed adaptation. A professional translator performed the back-translation of the adapted TAS-26, that was applied to a new sample of women (90 with chronical pain and 90 without pain, 38-65 years, education <9 years) to evaluate its internal consistency. Only four items (1/2/3/16) of the pre-existing Brazilian version (appropriate to university students) did not require modification. The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) was satisfactory for total score (0.65) and elevated for factor 1 (0.87). The adapted Brazilian version of TAS-26 is appropriate to low-educated adults