Chapter 4 120 they decided to withdraw. This left 73 adult patients who completed all of the questionnaires used in the study. Two patients did not return for the clinical interview. This left 71 patients completing all data. Of the patients in the final sample, 24 (32.9%) received a form of ambulant treatment with a weekly or biweekly appointment, 38 (52.1%) were receiving multi-day treatment, and 11 (15.1%) were administered for clinical treatment. Mean age of participants was 36.04 years (SD=11.35). The youngest participant was 18 years of age, the oldest participant was 59. 17 participants were male (23.3%; 18-59 years of age, M=42.53, SD=14.16), 56 were female (76.7%; 18-56 years of age, M=34.07, SD=9.67). All had the Dutch nationality. 3. Procedure We performed a cross-sectional survey study with self-report questionnaires. In addition to the self-report questionnaires, we used a structured interview to assess alexithymia. A short version of each test was used if available and had comparable psychometric qualities to the original version. To contact participants, leaflets containing information about the study were placed in waiting rooms and other communal areas throughout different locations of the mental health institute. Also, health care workers were asked if they would hand out leaflets to their patients at the end of an appointment. Patients who considered to participate or who had further questions about the study could contact the main researcher by e-mail, telephone or by visiting a designated office at designated days of the week. All patients who signed up were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time with no further obligations. There was no financial reward for participating. On their request, patients could receive an overview of their answers/scores on the tests. Participants who decided to withdraw or forfeit after entering the study were replaced. We continued to include participants until the number required by the power analysis was reached. For each participant two appointments were scheduled. During the first appointment, each participant was asked to fill out five questionnaires. On average, completing the questionnaires took 20 to 30 minutes. During the second appointment each participant completed the semi-structured interview on alexithymia (TSIA) by a psychologist who completed official training in use of the instrument. This training was provided by dr. R. Inslegers of the University of Ghent and supervised via e-mail by dr. G. Taylor and dr. R. Bagby. Completing the interview took between 45 to 75 minutes.
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