The reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS-J)

Tetsuya Igarashi, Gen Komaki, Richard D. Lane, Yoshiya Moriguchi, Hiroki Nishimura, Hiromi Arakawa, Motoharu Gondo, Yuri Terasawa, Corbet V. Sullivan, Motonari Maeda

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) was developed to assess five levels of emotional awareness: bodily sensations, action tendencies, single emotions, blends of emotion, and combinations of blends. It is a paper and pencil performance questionnaire that presents 20 emotion-evoking scenes. We developed a Japanese version of the LEAS (LEAS-J), and its reliability and validity were examined.Methods: The LEAS-J level was independently assessed by two researchers who scored each response according to the LEAS scoring manual. High inter-rater reliability and internal consistency were obtained for the LEAS-J. Measures were socioeconomic status, LEAS-J, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). TAS-20, IRI and NEO-FFI were the measures used to explore the construct validity of LEAS-J, as it was predicted that higher scores on the LEAS-J would be related to fewer alexithymic features, greater empathetic ability, and a greater sense of cooperation with others. Questionnaires were completed by 344 university students.Results: The criterion-referenced validity was determined: a significant negative relationship was found with the externally-oriented thinking scores of TAS-20, and positive relationships were found with fantasy, perspective taking, and empathic concern on IRI and with extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness on NEO-FFI.Conclusions: Consistent with our expectations, the findings provide evidence that the LEAS-J has good reliability and validity. In addition, women had significantly higher scores than men on LEAS-J, showing that the gender difference identified in the original LEAS was cross-culturally consistent.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number2
JournalBioPsychoSocial Medicine
Volume5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 31 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • General Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry

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