Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1356643
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Psychosomatic Medicine: 2023 View all 8 articles

Development of a structured interview for the modified version of the Beth Israel Hospital Psychosomatic Questionnaire for Alexithymia

Provisionally accepted
Gen Komaki Gen Komaki 1*Takanobu Baba Takanobu Baba 2Toshiyuki Yoshida Toshiyuki Yoshida 3Tatsuyuki Arimura Tatsuyuki Arimura 4Yoshiya Moriguchi Yoshiya Moriguchi 5Motonari Maeda Motonari Maeda 6
  • 1 Department of Occupational Therapy, Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 2 Otemon Gakuin University, Ibaraki, Ōsaka, Japan
  • 3 Hijiyama University, Hiroshima, Japan
  • 4 Kyūshū Lutheran College, Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
  • 5 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
  • 6 Joshibi University of Art and Design, Suginami, Tōkyō, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Previous findings and observations in studies of self-reported measurements such as the Toronto Alexithymia indicate that it is possible to be misled by their shortcomings, such as other psychological characteristics like neurosis and depression.Objective: To overcome the limitations of self-report questionnaires for alexithymia, we developed a structured interview for the modified version of the Beth Israel Questionnaire (m-SIBIQ) and confirmed its reliability and validity.The m-SIBIQ is a modified version of the BIQ composed of twelveitems. Scoring is on a 7-point Likert scale; higher points indicate that a person is more alexithymic. Ninety-two adolescents were interviewed and the reliability was examined by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. For the concurrent and convergent validities, correlation analysis was done between the scores of m-SIBIQ and the self-reported questionnaires; Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Emotional Empathy Scale (EES), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), Anxiety Scores, and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II).: Good reliability was obtained. Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated two good models of two factors each; Model A, Affect Awareness (A.A.) and Operatory Thinking (O.T.) and Model B, Alexithymia (Alex) and Dreams. Stepwise multiple regression analysis done for each model were satisfactorily explained by the scores of Openness to experience of NEO-FFI and Fantasy of IRI. There were no correlations between the m-SIBIQ and BDI-II scores.The m-SIBIQ is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the alexithymia of Japanese adolescents.

    Keywords: alexithymia (TAS-20), affect regulation, Personality, Openness to Experience (O), Neurosis and psychosomatic symptoms

    Received: 15 Dec 2023; Accepted: 03 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Komaki, Baba, Yoshida, Arimura, Moriguchi and Maeda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gen Komaki, Department of Occupational Therapy, Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.