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TAS-20 alexithymia in obesity, and its links to personality

Elfhag, Kristina and Lundh, Lars-Gunnar LU (2007) In Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 48(5). p.391-398
Abstract
We studied the association between alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20) and obesity, and also assessed the construct validity of the TAS-20 in terms of personality dimensions in obese patients. The TAS-20 and its subscales were analysed for their correlations with the NEO Personality Inventory - Revised (NEO PI-R) in an obese sample of 259 patients. Obesity was associated with higher scores on the TAS-20 than a Swedish reference sample. Obese men furthermore scored higher on Externally Oriented Thinking than the obese women. TAS-20 scores correlated with elevated Neuroticism and lower levels of Extraversion and Openness, in agreement with most previous research, but also somewhat unexpectedly with lower Conscientiousness... (More)
We studied the association between alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20) and obesity, and also assessed the construct validity of the TAS-20 in terms of personality dimensions in obese patients. The TAS-20 and its subscales were analysed for their correlations with the NEO Personality Inventory - Revised (NEO PI-R) in an obese sample of 259 patients. Obesity was associated with higher scores on the TAS-20 than a Swedish reference sample. Obese men furthermore scored higher on Externally Oriented Thinking than the obese women. TAS-20 scores correlated with elevated Neuroticism and lower levels of Extraversion and Openness, in agreement with most previous research, but also somewhat unexpectedly with lower Conscientiousness and for women also with lower Agreeableness. The TAS-20 subscales showed divergent associations with personality variables, largely in accordance with previous findings. The associations were more prominent for the women, and some gender-specific patterns not previously reported were also revealed. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
obesity, five-factor model, personality, TAS-20, alexithymia
in
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
volume
48
issue
5
pages
391 - 398
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000249664600006
  • scopus:34548683222
ISSN
1467-9450
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00583.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
14ce4227-8559-4005-8058-92507725f64f (old id 656373)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:40:00
date last changed
2022-04-22 23:39:41
@article{14ce4227-8559-4005-8058-92507725f64f,
  abstract     = {{We studied the association between alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20) and obesity, and also assessed the construct validity of the TAS-20 in terms of personality dimensions in obese patients. The TAS-20 and its subscales were analysed for their correlations with the NEO Personality Inventory - Revised (NEO PI-R) in an obese sample of 259 patients. Obesity was associated with higher scores on the TAS-20 than a Swedish reference sample. Obese men furthermore scored higher on Externally Oriented Thinking than the obese women. TAS-20 scores correlated with elevated Neuroticism and lower levels of Extraversion and Openness, in agreement with most previous research, but also somewhat unexpectedly with lower Conscientiousness and for women also with lower Agreeableness. The TAS-20 subscales showed divergent associations with personality variables, largely in accordance with previous findings. The associations were more prominent for the women, and some gender-specific patterns not previously reported were also revealed.}},
  author       = {{Elfhag, Kristina and Lundh, Lars-Gunnar}},
  issn         = {{1467-9450}},
  keywords     = {{obesity; five-factor model; personality; TAS-20; alexithymia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{391--398}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Psychology}},
  title        = {{TAS-20 alexithymia in obesity, and its links to personality}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00583.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00583.x}},
  volume       = {{48}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}