Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo 2013 Volume 141, Issue 5-6, Pages: 366-370
https://doi.org/10.2298/SARH1306366T
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Serbian translation of the 20-item toronto alexithymia scale: Psychometric properties and the new methodological approach in translating scales
Trajanović Nikola N. (Sleep Research Unit, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada + Dom zdravlja “Dr. Ristić”, Beograd)
Đurić Vladimir (Kliničko-bolnički centar „Dr Dragiša Mišović“, Psihijatrijsko odeljenje, Beograd)
Latas Milan (Medicinski fakultet, Beograd + Klinički centar Srbije, Klinika za psihijatriju, Beograd)
Milovanović Srđan (Medicinski fakultet, Beograd + Klinički centar Srbije, Klinika za psihijatriju, Beograd)
Jovanović Aleksandar A. (Medicinski fakultet, Beograd + Klinički centar Srbije, Klinika za psihijatriju, Beograd)
Đurić Dušan (Medicinski fakultet, Kragujevac, Srbija + Institut za rehabilitaciju, Beograd, Srbija)
Introduction. Since inception of the alexithymia construct in 1970’s, there
has been a continuous effort to improve both its theoretical postulates and
the clinical utility through development, standardization and validation of
assessment scales. Objective. The aim of this study was to validate the
Serbian translation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and to
propose a new method of translation of scales with a property of temporal
stability. Methods. The scale was expertly translated by bilingual medical
professionals and a linguist, and given to a sample of bilingual participants
from the general population who completed both the English and the Serbian
version of the scale one week apart. Results. The findings showed that the
Serbian version of the TAS-20 had a good internal consistency reliability
regarding total scale (α=0.86), and acceptable reliability of the three
factors (α=0.71-0.79). Conclusion. The analysis confirmed the validity and
consistency of the Serbian translation of the scale, with observed weakness
of the factorial structure consistent with studies in other languages. The
results also showed that the method of utilizing a self-control bilingual
subject is a useful alternative to the back-translation method, particularly
in cases of linguistically and structurally sensitive scales, or in cases
where a larger sample is not available. This method, dubbed as
‘forth-translation’, could be used to translate psychometric scales measuring
properties which have temporal stability over the period of at least several
weeks.
Keywords: alexithymia, TAS-20, psychometric scale, translation methodology, back-translation