The relationship between the biogenetic temperament and character and psychopathology in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between patterns of temperament and character and self-reported psychopathology in adolescents from the community. SAMPLING AND METHODS: The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) and Youth Self-Report (YSR) instruments were administered to 623 Korean middle school students (boys/girls = 331/292; age = 13.3 +/- 0.9 years old). Multiple linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between temperament and character based on Cloninger's biogenetic theory of personality and youth psychopathology of internalizing and externalizing problems. RESULTS: Internalizing problems of the YSR (withdrawn, somatic complaint and anxious/depressed scales) were significantly related to high Harm Avoidance and low Reward Dependence (JTCI temperament) and low Self-Directedness and high Self-Transcendence (JTCI character). Externalizing problems of the YSR (delinquency and aggression) were significantly associated with high Novelty Seeking and high Harm Avoidance (JTCI temperament) and low Self-Directedness, low Cooperativeness and high Self-Transcendence (JTCI character). CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the current study suggest that specific patterns of temperament and character potentially influence adolescents' psychopathology in the community.

Trait and state aspects of harm avoidance and its implication for treatment in major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and depressive personality disorder.

The authors evaluated the trait/state issues of harm avoidance in depressive-spectrum disorders and its predictive potential for antidepressant response. Subjects with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn; DSM-IV) major depressive disorder (n = 39), dysthymic disorder (n = 37), depressive personality disorder (n = 39), and healthy control subjects (n = 40) were evaluated with the Temperament and Character Inventory and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) at baseline and after a 12 week antidepressant treatment period. Higher harm avoidance scores predicted lesser improvement in subjects with dysthymic disorder and major depressive disorder, as determined by lesser decrease in HDRS-17 scores. Mean harm avoidance scores in depressed subjects were consistently greater than those in healthy controls, controlling for age, gender and diagnosis. Mean harm avoidance scores decreased significantly in all depressive-spectrum disorders after treatment, but still remained higher than harm avoidance scores in control subjects. The present study reports that harm avoidance is a reliable predictor of antidepressant treatment in subjects with major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder and that harm avoidance is both trait- and state-dependent in depressive-spectrum disorders.

The reliability and validity of the junior temperament and character inventory.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (Junior TCI), a child and adolescent version of the Adult Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), which is based on Cloninger's biosocial model of personality. The Junior TCI was translated into Korean and administered to 663 Korean middle school students (male/female, 360/303; age, 13.3 +/- 1.0 years) and their parents (mother/father, 444/84). Internal consistency was calculated by Cronbach alpha. A test-retest study of the Junior TCI was conducted across a 3-month interval with 97 subjects. Factor analyses for the temperament and character dimensions were performed using principal component analysis, rotating factors by Promax. Cronbach alpha values of the Junior TCI scales ranged from.48 to.80 for the temperament scales and from.64 to.68 for the character scales. Test-retest correlations ranged from.62 to.85 for the temperament scales and from.76 to.79 for the character scales. Principal component factor analyses showed three factors out of four temperament scales (Harm Avoidance 1 to 4; Novelty Seeking 1 to 4; Persistence; and Reward Dependence 1, 3, 4) and three factors out of three character scales (Self-Directedness 1 to 5; Cooperativeness 1 to 5; and Self-Transcendence 1 to 3) that were similar to factor structures of adult versions of the TCI. Explorative factor analysis with a condition of eigenvalue greater than 1 produced six factors, as compared to seven factors extracted in Cloninger's original report of the adult TCI. In conclusion, this was the first study to tests and report detailed psychometric properties of the Junior TCI. The current study confirms that the Junior TCI has satisfactory psychometric properties for the use in child and adolescent populations and reflects Cloninger's biosocial model of personality.

Three-year follow up of women with and without borderline personality disorder: development of Cloninger's character in adolescence.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the developmental patterns of Cloninger's biogenetic character traits in subjects with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Study subjects met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised; DSM-III-R) criteria for BPD without comorbid axis I or II disorders, as determined by the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines-Revised, Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III-R, and Diagnostic Interview for Personality Disorders. The BPD subjects and age- and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects were initially interviewed for Cloninger's biogenetic characters and re-interviewed at an interval of 1 year for the following 3 years. There were significant differences in the developmental patterns of self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence between BPD and healthy comparison subjects (significant group by time interaction: repeated measures manova, F = 17.3, d.f. = 3,240, P < 0.001; F = 28.5, d.f. = 3,240, P < 0.001; F = 4.7, d.f. = 3,240, P < 0.01, respectively). The BPD subjects had less changes in character-related maturity with increasing age than did healthy comparison subjects. Post-hoc tests with Duncan's statistics revealed that subjects with BPD had significantly lower scores on self-directedness at all assessment time periods (P < 0.01) and lower scores on cooperativeness at the second-year and third-year follow-up assessments as compared to healthy comparison subjects (P < 0.01). The BPD subjects had a distinctively different developmental pattern of Cloninger's character compared to healthy comparison subjects. The character development of BPD patients was more fixed and immature than those of healthy comparison subjects.