OBJECTIVES The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), is currently the most widely used measure of alexithymia. An alternative measure of alexithymic characteristics is the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS). Aim of the study was to investigate, wether LEAS and TAS-20 scores are associated with interpersonal problems, sociodemografic variables, and psychological strain in a construct conform direction. METHODS 146 psychosomatically ill in-patients completed the TAS-20, the LEAS, the Symptom Check List (SCL-90-R) and the inventory for the assessment of interpersonal problems (IIP-D). RESULTS Low emotional awareness (LEAS) was associated with male gender, absence of a stable partnership and low educational level. In contrast to LEAS, TAS-20 was significantly correlated with the majority of the SCL-90-R and IIP scales. CONCLUSIONS The correlations between TAS-20 and IIP scales may be an indication for the validity of the measurement. The association between low emotional awareness and sociodemografic variables are costructconform and indicate a strong relationship between LEAS and variables, that represent real life.