The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of alexithymia by means of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) in 60 male outpatients with alcohol dependence showing various durations of abstinence. Alexithymia (> or = 74 points on TAS) was found in 48% of subjects. In patients with a shorter duration of abstinence (< 1 year) both total scores of TAS as well as the scores for all three subscales were significantly higher than in subjects abstaining for more than 1 year. The findings may suggest a negative relationship between alexithymia and maintaining abstinence in male alcoholic outpatients.