Turkish adaptation and psychometric validation of the Normative Male Alexithymia Scale-Brief Form (NMAS-BF) among male university students.

INTRODUCTION

Normative male alexithymia reflects masculinity-related difficulties in identifying and expressing emotions and is theoretically linked to restrictive emotionality within masculine socialization. Existing measures predominantly assess clinical levels of alexithymia and may fail to capture subclinical, culturally embedded patterns of emotional restriction associated with masculine socialization. This study aimed to adapt the Normative Male Alexithymia Scale-Brief Form (NMAS-BF) to Turkish language and culture and to evaluate its psychometric properties.

METHODS

A methodological study was conducted with Turkish male university students. Linguistic equivalence was examined in a bilingual sample (n = 46), followed by a pilot study (n = 30). Separate non-overlapping samples were used for exploratory factor analysis (n = 376) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 376) to assess structural validity. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using principal axis factoring. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, corrected item-total correlations, and alpha-if-item-deleted values.

RESULTS

The Turkish version of the NMAS-BF demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.890), with corrected item-total correlations ranging from 0.617 to 0.770. Exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring supported a single-factor structure explaining approximately 58.09% of the common variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated good model fit for the one-factor model, χ2(9) = 20.66, χ2/df = 2.30, RMSEA = 0.059, CFI = 0.99, TLI/NNFI = 0.99, SRMR = 0.025, and GFI = 0.98.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide initial evidence for the internal consistency and structural validity of the Turkish NMAS-BF among Turkish male university students. Beyond its psychometric properties, the scale provides a culturally adapted tool for examining masculinity-related emotional restriction within the context of Turkish masculine socialization. Future studies may use the Turkish NMAS-BF to investigate associations between emotional restriction, emotional awareness, emotional expression, and psychological functioning among more diverse samples of Turkish men.