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Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ)3

Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) Test

Designed to explore how you recognize, understand, express, and experience emotions, the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) Test takes about 8 minutes and includes 40 questions. Your profile can highlight patterns in emotional awareness, communication, imagination, and reactivity, supporting thoughtful self-reflection about your inner experience.

Questions: 408 minutes

Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ): situation and reply bubbles

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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3,119 completions

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Daniel Hall Psychologist · Test reviewer

1,705 likes

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Verbalizing (E)V

Assesses the tendency and ability to put one’s emotional states into words and communicate them to others.

example score21/40

21/40Moderateexample score

8 – 15Low

16 – 29Moderate

30 – 40High

A score of 21 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a generally adequate ability to describe feelings with occasional difficulty expressing emotions clearly.

Analyzing (D)A

Assesses the tendency and ability to analyze and explain one’s own emotional reactions.

example score23/40

23/40Moderate analysisexample score

8 – 19Low analysis

20 – 29Moderate analysis

30 – 40High analysis

A score of 23 falls in the Moderate analysis range, suggesting a generally present ability to reflect on emotions with some situations still feeling hard to make sense of.

Identifying (C)I

Measures how well a person can recognize and identify the nature of their own emotional experiences.

example score19/40

19/40Moderateexample score

8 – 13Low

14 – 25Moderate

26 – 40High

A score of 19 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting generally adequate emotion identification with some possible difficulty clearly recognizing emotions at times.

FantasizingF

Measures the capacity for daydreaming and creating vivid mental images and fantasies.

example score26/40

26/40Highexample score

8 – 10Low

11 – 24Typical

25 – 40High

A score of 26 falls in the High range, suggesting a relatively strong tendency toward fantasizing and mental imagery.

Emotionality (A)E

Measures how strongly and readily a person becomes emotionally excited or reactive across situations.

example score29/40

29/40High emotional reactivityexample score

8 – 14Low emotional reactivity

15 – 24Moderate emotional reactivity

25 – 40High emotional reactivity

A score of 29 falls in the High emotional reactivity range, suggesting a tendency toward stronger emotional excitability in everyday situations.

Alexithymia LevelAL

Measures overall severity of difficulties in identifying, understanding, and expressing one’s own emotions (alexithymia).

example score136/200

136/200Highexample score

40 – 72Low

73 – 110Moderate

111 – 200High

A score of 136 falls in the High range, indicating pronounced overall difficulties with recognizing, analyzing, and verbally describing emotions.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People struggling to name feelings

41%OF USERS

They often feel confused about what they feel, have trouble putting emotions into words, or come across as emotionally “numb.”

Therapy and diagnostics clients

34%OF USERS

They take it as part of psychological assessment to clarify whether emotional difficulties are mainly cognitive (identifying/verbalizing) or affective (experiencing/imagery).

Researchers and psychology students

25%OF USERS

They use it in studies or training to measure different components of emotional processing in a structured, time-efficient way.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Verbalization (E)

You?

Average16.5

Typical rangeTypical12 – 21.1

Possible8 – 40

Analysis (D)

You?

Average24.7

Typical rangeTypical19.3 – 30.2

Possible8 – 40

Identification (C)

You?

Average17

Typical rangeTypical11.7 – 22.2

Possible8 – 40

Daydreaming (B)

You?

Average28.3

Typical rangeTypical24.2 – 32.4

Possible8 – 40

Emotionality (A)

You?

Average17.5

Typical rangeTypical12 – 22.9

Possible8 – 40

Level of alexithymiaLoa

You?

Average140.8

Typical rangeTypical113.7 – 167.8

Possible40 – 200

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below is a series of statements. Please use the scale to indicate the extent to which each statement most accurately describes you. For each statement, select the one response option that best applies.

- Definitely not true of me
- Partly untrue of me
- Neither true nor untrue of me
- Partly true of me
- Definitely true of me
- Definitely does not apply to me
- Somewhat untrue
- Neither true nor untrue
- Somewhat true
- Definitely applies to me
- Definitely does not apply to me
- Somewhat untrue
- Neither true nor untrue
- Somewhat true
- Definitely applies to me

These are 3 of the 40 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) Test - Description and methodology of the test

alexithymia

autism

For people reflecting on emotional awareness, communication, or sensitivity in daily life, the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) Test offers a structured way to examine how emotions are identified, analyzed, expressed, and experienced. This emotional awareness test turns vague impressions into a profile of tendencies across inner experience, imagination, and interpersonal expression.

What This Assessment Explores

Alexithymia involves distinct ways of experiencing emotion. The questionnaire examines communication, emotional insight, imagination, and reactivity, creating a profile. The questionnaire's identification dimension functions as an emotion identification test, showing whether difficulty lies mainly in recognizing feelings, understanding reactions, or expressing them.

These scales define the profile:

Verbalizing (E), 8-40, measures how readily a person describes emotions; Low 8-15; Moderate 16-29; High 30-40.
Analyzing (D), 8-40, measures how a person explains reactions; Low analysis 8-19; Moderate analysis 20-29; High analysis 30-40.
Identifying (C), 8-40, measures recognition of emotions; Low 8-13; Moderate 14-25; High 26-40.
Fantasizing, 8-40, measures imaginative capacity; Low 8-10; Typical 11-24; High 25-40.
Emotionality (A), 8-40, measures emotional arousability; Low emotional reactivity 8-14; Moderate emotional reactivity 15-24; High 25-40.
Alexithymia Level, 40-200, summarizes emotional difficulty; Low 40-72; Moderate 73-110; High 111-200.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each statement addresses emotional, interpersonal, and imaginative experiences, reactions, beliefs, preferences, or habitual tendencies. Five response options move from definite inaccuracy or non-application through neutral and intermediate choices to definite truth or application, so respondents indicate degree rather than choose yes or no.

The results report five component scales and an overall level. Higher overall scores may indicate greater difficulty identifying, analyzing, and expressing emotions; the component scales describe the separate tendencies outlined above. The displayed labels and ranges provide the interpretation for each result.

The evidence base begins with the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) examined by Vorst and Bermond (2001). This questionnaire is conceptually consistent with that instrument, not presented as an adaptation. Müller and colleagues (2004) examined its psychometric properties, and de Vroege and colleagues (2018) studied general and clinical populations. The cited studies concern the published BVAQ and do not, by themselves, validate or establish norms for this exact online presentation.

Self-report results can shift with current mood, self-awareness, and wording interpretation. The profile describes tendencies rather than causes and does not by itself establish a diagnosis.

Author: A. J. Vorst, H. Bermond

Literature:

Vorst, H. C. M., & Bermond, B. (2001). Validity and reliability of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(3), 413-434. 10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00033-7
Müller, J., Bühner, M., & Ellgring, H. (2004). The assessment of alexithymia: psychometric properties and validity of the Bermond-Vorst alexithymia questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(2), 373-391. 10.1016/j.paid.2003.09.010
de Vroege, L., Emons, W. H. M., Sijtsma, K., & van der Feltz-Cornelis, C. M. (2018). Psychometric Properties of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) in the General Population and a Clinical Population. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 111. 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00111

Updated: 2025-10-02