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PubMed1997

Validation of a computerized version of the temperament and character inventory (TCI) in psychiatric inpatients.

We wrote a Basic program for Macintosh and IBM-compatible computers in order to administer the 226 questions of the French Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) automatically, and to obtain a personality profile instantaneously. Validity was assessed by comparing the results of 32 psychiatric inpatients who used this program and the paper-and-pencil form of the TCI over an interval of 4.8 days on average. No acceptability problem was met with the computerized version. Correlation coefficients between computer and paper-and-pencil scores varied from 0.78 to 0.91 for temperament dimensions, and from 0.71 to 0.82 for character dimensions. The mean scores of the two versions were not significantly different. These results suggest that a computerized version of the TCI can be a reliable and acceptable instrument for the assessment of personality dimensions in psychiatric patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Relationship between serotonin and the temperament and character inventory.

The unified biosocial theory of personality, proposed by Cloninger, conceptualises personality as a combination of heritable, neurobiologically based traits (temperament dimensions), and traits reflecting sociocultural learning (character dimensions). The temperament dimensions are thought to be related to activity in specific central neurotransmitter systems. The relationship of the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory, particularly harm avoidance (HA), and platelet 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity was investigated in a sample of undergraduate student volunteers (N = 49). Serotonin-receptor binding results in Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. The concentration of serotonin required to produce half maximal Ca2+ response (EC50) is indicative of 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity such that the lower the EC50 serotonin concentration, the greater the 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity. A significant inverse correlation was found between HA and EC50 (r = -0.644, P < 0.001). Self-directedness was also significantly correlated with EC50 (r = 0.391, P = 0.005). Novelty seeking, a personality trait similar to sensation seeking, was not significantly correlated with serotonin.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

The dimensional symptom structure of schizophrenia and its association with temperament and character.

Recent studies suggest that personality may influence symptom expression and social functioning in schizophrenia. This study investigated the relationships between personality and symptom dimensions in schizophrenia patients. Fifty-two schizophrenia patients and 25 five healthy subjects were assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The patients were also assessed for positive and negative symptoms using SAPS and SANS and scored according to Andreasen's (1995: Andreasen, N.C., Arndt, S., Alliger, R., Miller, D., Flaum, M. 1995. Symptoms of schizophrenia. Methods, meanings, and mechanisms. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 52, 341-351) classical three dimensional model and by the five dimensional model of Toomey et al. (1997: Toomey, R., Kremen, W.S., Simpson J.C., Samson, J.A., Seidman, L.J., Lyons, M.J., Faraone, S.V., Tsuang, M.T. 1997. Revisiting the factor structure for positive and negative symptoms: evidence from a large heterogeneous group of psychiatric patients. Am. J. Psychiatry, 154, 371-377). Comparisons between patients and controls revealed significant differences on various TCI scores consistent with a global disorganization of personality in schizophrenia involving both basic neurophysiological and potentially genetically determined traits (i.e. temperament) and developmental aspects of personality (i.e. character). Correlation analysis showed distinct associations between symptoms and personality dimensions. The results suggest that the negative and disorganized dimensions of schizophrenia are related temperamental factors, whereas the psychotic symptoms are more related to characterological abnormalities. The observed patterns of associations also underline the heterogeneity of the classical negative and positive dimensions of schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A multivariate analysis of 59 candidate genes in personality traits: the temperament and character inventory.

Cloninger (Cloninger CR. Neurogenetic adaptive mechanisms in alcoholism. Science 1987: 236: 410-416) proposed three basic personality dimensions for temperament: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence. He suggested that novelty seeking primarily utilized dopamine pathways, harm avoidance utilized serotonin pathways, and reward dependence utilized norepinephrine pathways. Subsequently, one additional temperament dimension (persistence) and three character dimensions (cooperativeness, self-directedness, and self-transcendence) were added to form the temperament and character inventory (TCI). We have utilized a previously described multivariate analysis technique (Comings DE, Gade-Andavolu R, Gonzalez N et al. Comparison of the role of dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenergic genes in ADHD, ODD and conduct disorder. Multivariate regression analysis of 20 genes. Clin Genet 2000: 57: 178-196; Comings DD, Gade-Andavolu R, Gonzalez N et al. Multivariate analysis of associations of 42 genes in ADHD, ODD and conduct disorder. Clin Genet 2000: in press) to examine the relative role of 59 candidate genes in the seven TCI traits and test the hypothesis that specific personality traits were associated with specific genes. While there was some tendency for this to be true, a more important trend was the involvement of different ratios of functionally related groups of genes, and of different genotypes of the same genes, for different traits.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Psychometric properties of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) questionnaire in a Spanish psychiatric population.

OBJECTIVE: The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were examined in a psychiatric population. METHOD: Internal consistency, factor structure and concurrent validity were studied in a sample of 416 psychiatric patients. RESULTS: A moderate to high internal consistency for all personality dimensions was found, except for Persistence. A confirmatory factor analysis of the TCI performed at the subscale level revealed an uncertain factor structure. However, when analysed separately, both the 11 temperament subscales (plus Persistence) and the 13 character subscales shaped four and three factors, respectively, in agreement with the biosocial model of personality. Finally, concurrent validity analyses were conducted using EPQ, SPSR and SSS questionnaires showing results consistent with theory. CONCLUSION: The Spanish version of the TCI is a reliable and valid instrument, although the Persistence dimension might require further revision.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

What does psychoanalysis have to contribute to the understanding of character?

While character is an indispensable term in psychoanalytic discourse, it is not primarily a psychoanalytic term. The psychoanalytic theories of neurosis and development are built around the idea of the "complementary series." While psychoanalysis has powerful theories about the "accidental" complement, it only recognizes the "constitutional" complement, and psychoanalysis has nothing to say about it. Current research may shed more light on this latter component and also provide the data for future psychoanalytic theorizing about character and personality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Maturational and experiential components of character formation.

This paper explores the concept of character from the point of view of its use both in everyday language and in psychoanalytic literature. It also examines, with clinical illustrations, some of the complex interactions of maturation and experience in the formation of character.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Temperament and character factors in a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype compared to attention deficit hyperactive and normal controls.

OBJECTIVE: To compare temperament and character (T/C) factors in a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype (PEA-BP), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and normal community controls (NC). METHODS: Subjects in PEA-BP (n = 101), ADHD (n = 68), and NC (n = 94) groups were diagnostically assessed with the Washington University in St. Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia given separately to mothers about their children and to children about themselves. Diagnosis of PEA-BP was defined as Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, bipolar disorder (manic or mixed phase) with at least one cardinal symptom of mania (i.e., elation and/or grandiosity) to avoid diagnosing mania by symptoms that overlapped with those for ADHD. The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) was used to measure T/C factors. Separate JTCI data were obtained from mothers about their children and from children about themselves. RESULTS: Parent- and child-reported novelty seeking were significantly higher in PEA-BP than in NC subjects. Novelty seeking was significantly higher in the ADHD group than in the NC group only by parent report. Parent and/or child report showed PEA-BP and ADHD subjects to be significantly less reward-dependent, persistent, self-directed, and cooperative than NC subjects. Parent-reported cooperativeness was significantly lower in PEA-BP than in ADHD subjects. CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with studies of novelty seeking in adults who had either BP or ADHD and are discussed in relationship to genetic studies of dopamine receptors and novelty seeking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Eating disorders and eating problems among adolescents with type 1 diabetes: exploring relationships with temperament and character.

OBJECTIVE: To determine temperament and character among adolescents with type 1 diabetes with and without disordered eating. METHOD: A clinical sample of 199 adolescents from multiple centers with a mean age of 14.1 (SD, 2.5) years were screened and diagnosed for eating disorders. Assessed were temperament and character as conceptualized by Cloninger, glycemic control, and depression. RESULTS: Adolescent patients with clinical eating disorders or subthreshold eating problems had significantly higher mean scores in harm avoidance and lower mean scores in self-directedness. Harm avoidance remained significant even after controlling for depressive pathology. DISCUSSION: This study is the first to show evidence that among youths (in particular, girls) with type 1 diabetes, there is an association between low self-directedness, high harm avoidance, and the presence of eating, weight, and shape pathology. For these particular youths, important implications for clinical practice are outlined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Temperament, character, and personality disorder in bulimia nervosa.

In a sample of 76 women participating in a clinical treatment trial for bulimia nervosa, we examined the clinical differences between subjects with and without concurrent personality disorders and the ability of "self-directedness" (a character scale of Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory) to predict the presence of personality disorder. Sixty-three percent of the sample had at least one personality disorder diagnosis. Fifty-one percent of personality disorders were in cluster C, 41% were in cluster B, and 33% were in cluster A. The presence of personality disorder was associated with greater depressive symptoms, worse global functioning, laxative use, greater body dissatisfaction, higher harm avoidance, and lower self-directedness. As hypothesized, low self-directedness scores were associated with a markedly increased probability of a personality disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Temperament and character in women with anorexia nervosa.

The present study examined temperament differences among anorexia nervosa (AN) subtypes and community controls, as well as the effect of body weight on personality traits in women with AN. Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores were compared between 146 women with restrictor-type AN (RAN), 117 women with purging-type AN (PAN), 60 women with binge/purge-type AN (BAN), and 827 community control women (CW) obtained from an archival normative database. Women with AN scored significantly higher on harm avoidance and significantly lower on cooperativeness than CW. Subtype analyses revealed that women with RAN and PAN reported the lowest novelty seeking, RAN women the highest persistence and self-directedness, and PAN women the highest harm avoidance. Body mass index had a nominal effect on subgroup differences, suggesting that personality disturbances are independent of body weight. Findings suggest that certain facets of temperament differ markedly between women with AN, regardless of diagnostic subtype, and controls. More subtle temperament and character differences that were independent of body weight emerged that distinguish among subtypes of AN.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Truth and character: sources that older adults can remember.

Are age differences in source memory inevitable? The two experiments reported here examined the hypothesis that the type of source information being tested mediates the magnitude of age differences in source memory. In these studies, participants listened to statements made by two different speakers. We compared younger and older adults' source memory in a traditional perceptual source task (memory for voice) and in two affective, conceptually based source tasks (truth of the statements, character of a person in a photo). In both studies, the perceptual and conceptual source information were conveyed in the same manner, as one speaker was associated with one type of information (e.g., female voice speaks truth). Age differences were robust for decisions regarding who said each statement but were negligible or truth or character decisions. These findings are provocative because they suggest that the type of information can influence age-related patterns of performance for source-conveyed information.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Character strengths before and after September 11.

Did Americans change following the September 11 terrorist attacks? We provide a tentative answer with respect to the positive traits included in the Values in Action Classification of Strengths and measured with a self-report questionnaire available on-line and completed by 4,817 respondents. When scores for individuals completing the survey in the 2 months immediately after September 11 were compared with scores for those individuals who completed the survey before September 11, seven character strengths showed increases: gratitude, hope, kindness, leadership, love, spirituality, and teamwork. Ten months after September 11, these character strengths were still elevated, although to a somewhat lesser degree than immediately following the attacks.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Stability over time of character assessment using a psychodynamic instrument and personality inventories.

In a group of patients with a preoperative diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, the stability of character traits and modes of mental functioning were studied after a major life event, major abdominal surgery, using the Karolinska Psychodynamic Profile (KAPP), an interview-based assessment instrument founded upon psychoanalytic theory. In addition, different personality and temperamental variables were assessed with 2 self-report instruments. The patients were assessed before surgery, and follow-up was made at least 1 year after their final scheduled surgery. Although the patients had undergone major abdominal surgery and convalescence between the assessments, the correlations between the scores before and after surgery were very high, and the levels of the scores were very similar. This was true for all the instruments, indicating that they assessed stable characteristics in the patients. The changes that did occur were mainly in the predicted direction. The results of this study suggest that the KAPP can assess modes of mental functioning and character traits that are relatively stable and only slowly variable.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Temperament, character and suicide attempts in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and major depression.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the relation between personality traits as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and a reported history of suicide attempts in women with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and major depression. METHOD: We compared the prevalence and severity of suicide attempts in women with anorexia nervosa (n = 68), bulimia nervosa (n = 152) and major depression with no history of an eating disorder (n = 59), and we examined the relation between the TCI scales and suicide attempts. RESULTS: Comparable numbers of women across the three groups had attempted suicide. The temperament dimension of high persistence and the character dimensions of low self-directedness and high self-transcendence were associated with a reported history of suicide attempts. CONCLUSION: Suicide attempts are equally common in women with eating disorders and women with depression. Whether the observed association between temperament and suicide attempts reflects correlates, causal factors or sequelae of suicide attempts is unknown.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The effect of temperament and character on response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in panic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: In this prospective study, temperament and character were evaluated in patients with panic disorder (PD), before 1 year of medication therapy, to verify whether these factors influenced the outcome of treatment. METHOD: Seventy-one PD patients were evaluated with the SCID-IV, the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the SCL-90, the Ham-A and the Ham-D. Patients were treated with pharmacotherapy and were evaluated monthly over 1 year. RESULTS: Before treatment, non-remitted patients showed higher levels of harm avoidance (HA) and lower levels of persistence (P), self-directedness (SD) and cooperativeness (C), whereas remitted patients showed only higher levels of HA. After controlling the effect of the confounding variables, the likelihood to achieve remission was positively related to SD score (OR = 1.12; P = 0.002), particularly 'self-acceptance' SD dimension (OR = 1.30; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that in PD: i) the evaluation of personality, using the Cloninger's model, confirms the presence of personality pathology as one predictor of non-response to treatment; ii) in patients with low SD a combination of medication and cognitive-behaviour therapy should be the most effective treatment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Anxiety sensitivity profile: dimensional structure and relationship with temperament and character.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the belief that bodily sensations have harmful consequences, is a reliable predictor of panic attacks in both clinical and nonclinical populations. Recently, a new measure of AS has been proposed. The AS profile (ASP) was designed to be a more comprehensive measure of AS, and to be more suitable for the measurement of different AS dimensions. Preliminary evidence (college student sample) suggests that the ASP has 4 dimensions. In the present study, the dimensional structure of the ASP was further investigated, as well as its relationship with temperament and character traits. METHODS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ASP scores in two large samples of psychiatric outpatients and nonclinical controls (combined n = 742). Correlations and partial correlations of ASP with temperament and character. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis yielded a single AS factor. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 6-dimensional structure, as Taylor and Cox had originally intended it, might be a defendable solution. However, the number of items is much too high, with many subscales consisting of semantic clusters. ASP scores were found to be weakly related to the temperament dimension harm avoidance, corroborating earlier findings that were not statistically significant because of small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The ASP may be shortened from 60 to 24 items without loss of reliability or content. Future studies using challenge paradigms and studies with general hospital patients may further investigate the usefulness of a shortened version of the ASP.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Biogenetic temperament and character and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Korean children.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and biogenetic temperament, as assessed by the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) in Korean elementary school children. SAMPLING AND METHODS: Five hundred and sixteen elementary school students (254 boys and 262 girls; age range 9-14 years, mean age 11.0 +/- 1.0 years) were studied. The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory, both the self-rating and parent rating scales, the DuPaul ADHD rating scale (ARS-IV) for parents and teachers and the Child Behavior Checklist have been completed by study subjects. Children with high ARS-IV scores (the upper 10th percentile, n = 52) were defined to have ADHD. Fifty-two age- and sex-matched non-ADHD control subjects were selected randomly from a pool of 464 subjects. RESULTS: Inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms correlated positively with Novelty Seeking in both children and parent ratings. These symptoms correlated negatively with Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness. Novelty Seeking also had significant correlations with attention problems, delinquent behavior, aggressive behavior, externalizing problems and social problems in the Child Behavior Checklist. The ADHD group (n = 52) had higher scores of Novelty Seeking and lower scores of Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness, compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant correlations between ADHD symptoms and Novelty Seeking. Current findings suggest that Novelty Seeking and ADHD share biogenetic backgrounds.

Adolescent↗