swedish normative data on personality using the temperament and character inventory

Swedish Normative Data on Personality Using the Temperament and Character Inventory

Sven Br~indstr6m, Paul Schlette, Thomas R. Przybeck, Mattias Lundberg, Thomas Forsgren, S6ren Sigvardsson, Per-Olof Nylander, Lars-G6ran Nilsson, Robert C. Cloninger, and Rolf Adolfsson

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCl) is a self-report personality questionnaire based on Clon- inger's psychobiological model of personality, which accounts for both normal and abnormal variation in the two major components of personality, temperament and character. Normative data for the Swedish TCI based on a representative Swedish sample of 1,300 adults are presented, and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire are discussed. The

structure of the Swedish version replicates the Ameri- can version well for the means, distribution of scores, and relationships within and between scales and subscales. Further, the Swedish inventory had a reli- able factor structure and test-retest performance. The results of this study confirm the theory of temperament and character as a seven-factor model of personality. Copyright© 1998by W.B. Saunders Company

C LONINGER DEVELOPED a dimensional psychobiological model of personality that

accounts for both normal and abnormal variation in the two major components of personality, temperament and character. 1-4 The model elaborates four dimensions of temperament and three dimensions of character. The temperament dimensions are traits that are moderately heritable and moderately stable throughout life. Temperament refers to individual differences in basic emotional responses such as anger, fear, and disgust. The temperament dimensions are novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD), and persistence (PS). The character dimensions are traits that are weakly heritable and moderately influenced by social learning, and mature in a stepwise pattern. Character refers to individual differences in goals, values, and self-conscious emotions like shame, guilt, and empathy. The character dimensions are self-directedness (SD), cooperativeness (C), and self-transcendence (ST).

Detailed descriptions of each of the seven dimensions are available elsewhere, 1-3 but each dimen-

From the Departments of Psychiatry and Social Medicine, Umedt University, Umedt; Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.

Supported by the Medical Research Council (B93-21X-10412 and B94-21X-03921), the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Founda- tion, the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research, the Swedish Council for Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, the Swedish Council for Social Science Re- search, and the Torsten and Ragnar Siiderbergs Foundation.

Address reprint requests to Rolf Adolfsson, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Umett University, 90185 Umett, Sweden.

Copyright © 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company 0010-440X/98/3903-0008503. 00/0

sion can be briefly described as follows. NS encompasses bias in the activation of behavior such as exploratory activity in response to novelty, impulsive decision making, extravagance in the approach to cues of reward, and quick loss of temper. HA consists of bias in the inhibition or cessation of behaviors, such as pessimistic worry in anticipation of future problems, passive avoidant behaviors such as fear of uncertainty and shyness of strangers, and rapid fatigability. RD includes bias in the maintenance of ongoing behaviors, and is exhibited as sentimentality, social attachment, and dependence on the approval of others. PS is manifest as a bias in resistance to extinction of behavior when confronted with frustrative lack of reward. SD quantifies the extent to which an individual is responsible, purposeful, resourceful, self-accepting, and dutiful. C is the degree to which a person identifies with other people and feels like an integral part of society; cooperative people are tolerant, empathic, helpful, compassionate, and principled. ST measures the extent to which a person feels like an integral part of the universe as a whole; self-transcendent people are imaginative, self-forgetful, faithful, spiritual, and idealistic.

Numerous studies have supported the validity of Cloninger's model and its utility for understanding behavior and clinical syndromes. For instance, twin studies have shown that the temperament dimensions are moderately heritable and that each is genetically homogenous and genetically independent from the others. 5,6 Recently, two studies have related the variation in NS to a polymorphism in the D4 dopamine receptor gene. 7,8 Also, NS and HA have been associated with several clinical syndromes, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and alcoholism) Svrakic et al. 9 have

122 Comprehensive Psychiatry, Vol. 39, No. 3 (May/June), 1998: pp 122-128

PERSONALITY TRAITS IN THE GENERAL SWEDISH POPULATION 123

shown that low SD and/or C increases the risk of personality disorder and that temperament traits distinguish subtypes of personality disorder. Re- cently, Cloninger et al. ~° demonstrated that the organization of character is related to the susceptibility to psychosis, as well as good mental health, in patients and the general population. They showed that high ST coupled with low SD and low C increases the risk for psychiatric hospitalization, suicide attempt, and depression at the time of evaluation; conversely, high ST along with high SD and high C was associated with high self-esteem and positive emotions.

Hence, Cloninger's model of personality has the potential to provide comprehensive insight into human personality at multiple levels of analysis, including the genetics of personality, the neurobio- logical foundations of behavior, the cognitive- emotional structure and development of personality, the behavioral correlates of individual differences in personality dimensions, and the interactions of personality constellations with devel- opmental factors in relation to the susceptibility to psychiatric disorders.

Cloninger's personality model has been opera- tionalized through the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The TCI is a 238-item self-report true/false paper-and-pencil questionnaire that takes about 30 minutes to complete. 11 The test assesses all seven dimensions of personality as previously described. For each dimension, a number of subscales are elaborated to measure facets of the main trait. Table 1 shows the scale and subscale labels and number of items included in each one. Exten- sive data on the reliability and validity of the TCI in the English language have been reported, and the TCI has been shown to have sound psychometric characteristics. 1-4

Accordingly, we decided to introduce a Swedish version of the TCI, establish its psychometric properties, and collect normative data based on a large sample of individuals from the Swedish population, thus laying the groundwork for epide- miological, psychological, and clinical studies of personality from the perspective of a global psychobiological model of personality.

METHOD

Development of the Swedish TCI Version

The Swedish version was developed in several steps, including translation, back-translation, and population testing (Fig 1).

Table 1. Temperament and Character Scales and Subscales

No. of Scale/Subscale Items

Temperament NS NS1 NS2 NS3 NS4 HA HA1 HA2 HA3 HA4 RD RD1 RD3 RD4 PS

Character SD SD1 SD2 SD3 SD4 SD5 C C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 ST ST1 ST2 ST3

Novelty seeking 40 Exploratory excitability v rigidity 11 Impulsiveness v reflection 10 Extravagance v reserve 9 Disorderliness v regimentation 10 Harm avoidance 35 Anticipatory worry v optimism 11 Fear of uncertainty vconfidence 7 Shyness v gregariousness 8 Fatigability and asthenia vvigor 9 Reward dependence 24 Sentimentality v insensitiveness 10 Attachment v detachment 8 Dependence v independence 6 Persistence 8

Self-directedness 44 Responsibility v blaming 8 Purposeful v lack of goal direction 8 Resourcefulness v apathy 5 Self-acceptance v self-striving 11 Congruent second nature 12 Cooperativeness 42 Social acceptance v intolerance 8 Empathy v social disinterest 7 Helpfulness v unhelpfulness 8 Compassion v revengefulness 10 Pure-hearted v self-serving 9 Self-transcendence 33 Self-forgetful v self-conscious 11 Transpersonal identification 9 Spiritual acceptance vmaterialism 13

The version used in this study was first tested on a small sample of 15 psychiatric inpatients and outpatients and 30 healthy students. The results were compared with the American version, and necessary corrections of version 1 were made. The next step was a "blind" back-translation into American English by an American doctor working in a psychiatric clinic in Sweden. This version (version 2) was then compared with the original American version and, following revision of items, again evaluated in a sample of 45 healthy students. The language was once again revised and then reviewed by a Swedish teacher of English, who compared the original American version with the Swedish second version. Finally, the language of some items was changed to a more colloquial Swedish style (version 3). Followed by administration of the inventory to 165 healthy subjects and a further evaluation of response patterns, the correction of minor linguistic errors resulted in version 3.1. This version is the one used in Sweden today.

Subjects

The normative data for the Swedish TCI are based on a sample of 1,300 individuals aged 20 to 80 years divided into 13 age cohorts (Table 2). One thousand of the subjects were randomly drawn from a large health and memory study The

124

Betula Cohort Study, which includes 2, 800 individuals aged 35 to 80 years. 12 The Betula sample has been compared with the Swedish population and was found to be demographically representative of the normal population. Because the Betula project sample consists of subjects aged 35 years and older, an additional group of 300 individuals aged 20, 25, and 30 years were randomly recruited from the same area by the Vasterbotten County population register. Inclusion criteria for these younger cohorts were as follows: (1) resident of V~sterbotten county, (2) Swedish citizen, and (3) born in 1964, 1969, or 1974. The

Independent forward translations

Ph.D.

/ P s ~ J

Back translation

Comparison with original version and back translated version

Version 1

Pilot studies on university students, inpatients, outpatients.

Evaluation o f response patterns

N e w translation

"Blind" back translation by American MD.

Comparison with original version and back translated version

Version 2


Adaptation of language to more eommen Swedish language

Version 3


Fig 1. Adaptation of the TCI to Swedish conditions accord- ing to translation.

BRANDSTROM ET AL

Table 2. Mean _+ SD Values for Age in the Swedish Population (N -- 1,300)

Cohort No. of Cases Mean ± SD

20 100 20.2 -+ 0.4

25 100 25.3 -+ 0.5

30 100 30.2 -+ 0.4

35 100 35.6 -+ 0.7

40 100 40.0 + 0.2

45 100 45.1 _+ 0.3

50 100 50.1 -+ 0.3

55 100 55.1 +- 0.2 60 100 60.0 -+ 0.2 65 100 64.9 _+ 0.2

70 100 70.0 -+ 0.1

75 100 75.1 -+ 0.3

80 100 80.0 -+ 0.3 Total 1,300 50.1 _+ 18.6

subjects were included consecutively for both subsamples until each cohort consisted of 100 individuals (50 males and 50 females). The overall response rate in the Betula project for the TCI is 89% (2,497 of 2,800 subjects; recruitment is ongoing). A total of 323 individuals were contacted to fill the quota of 300 in the youngest cohorts, for a response rate of 93%. The mean age of each cohort is listed in Table 2.

A test-retest study of the TCI was conducted after 1 year on a randomly selected sample of 270 individuals from the Betula Cohort Study (between ages 40 and 80). From each 5-year cohort, 30 subjects were selected (15 males and 15 females). A response rate of 82% (N = 222) was achieved. Of the 222 TCIs returned, five tests were not valid and were discarded (more than 10 missing items), leaving 217 valid tests. Among the respond- ers (105 males and 112 females), the mean age was 60.56 --- 13.03 years. There were no differences in age between males (60.24 _+ 12.98 years) and females (60.86 _+ 13.13 years).

Statistical Analysis

The mean - SD was calculated for the higher-order (scales) and lower-order (subscales) dimensions of temperament and character. Correlation analysis was performed with Pearson's correlation coefficients. Reliability of the scales and subscales was assessed with Cronbach's coefficient ~ (internal consistency). Based on the theoretical structure of a seven-factor model with two levels of personality, two factor analyses, one for the temperament subscates and one for the character subscales, were calculated using principal component analysis rotating the factors obliquely by oblimin. Finally, test-retest reliability was assessed using Pearson's correlations and T tests for paired samples to evaluate possible changes in scale scores at follow-up study. "I~vo-tailed P values were used for all tests. All analyses were conducted with SPSS, version PC 6.1.2.13

R E S U L T S

T h e m e a n - S D a n d i n t e rna l c o n s i s t e n c y ( C r o n -

b a c h et) fo r t e m p e r a m e n t a n d c h a r a c t e r s ca l e s a n d

s u b s c a l e s are l i s t ed in Tab les 3 a n d 4, r e s p e c t i v e l y .

T h e m e a n va l ue s a re s i m i l a r to t h o s e f o u n d fo r t he

A m e r i c a n TCI , 7 w i t h m o s t m e a n _+ S D v a l u e s


within a 10% difference between the two versions. Larger differences were found between the two versions for PS (5.6 v 3.7) and ST (19.2 v 12.5), with lower means in the Swedish version. The ST subscales showed consistently lower values in the Swedish TCI version compared with the American version.

Cronbach ~ values for the higher-order TCI scales were .56 to .85 for the temperament scales (NS, HA, RD, and PS) and .75 to .84 for the character scales (SD, C, and ST) (Table 3). The lowest ~ coefficients were found in PS (.56) and RD (.62). The other five scales (NS, HA, SD, C, and ST) showed c~ values of at least .75.

The Cronbach cx values for the TCI subscales (Table 4) were consistent within each scale, except for C. NS showed a stable Cronbach o~ (range, .62 to .68), except for NS4, which showed a weaker e~ (.46). HA subscales showed a stable cx of .65 to .71. RD subscales showed o~ values of .45, .53, and .66. For SD, all subscales showed a Cronbach a of .57 to .71, except for SD2 (.47). Further, C had the largest variation of e~ values (range, .20 to .74), with four subscales having an cx less than .60 (lowest ~, .20, was found for C2). Finally, ST subscales showed cx values between .63 and .81.

In summary, nine of 24 subscales had cx coefficients less than .60. There were negligible differences between sexes for scale and subscale o~ values (data not shown).

At the scale and subscale level, Cronbach values showed a tendency to become weaker with increasing age (Table 5). At scale level, the youngest age cohort (20 to 35 years) showed a higher Cronbach ~ compared with the oldest age cohort (60 to 80 years), except for the ST scale, which was .82 for the youngest cohort and .84 for the oldest cohort. Among subscales C3 and ST2, the Cron-

Table 3. Temperament and Character Scales, Total Items in Scale, Means -+ SD, and Cronbach ~ (N = 1,300)

Total Items Scale in Scale Mean _+ SD c(

Temperament

NS 40 18.8 _+ 5.9 .78

HA 35 14.1 ± 6.3 .85

RD 24 14.9 ± 3.5 .62

PS 8 3.7 ± 1.9 .56

Character

SD 44 32.5 ± 6.2 .81

C 42 33.6 ÷ 4.6 .75

ST 33 12.5 ± 5.9 .84

Table 4. Temperament and Character Subscales, Total Items in Subscale, Mean -+ SD, and Cronbach ~ (N = 1,300)

Total Items Subscale in Subscale Mean -- SD (~

NS1 11 6.3 + 2,4 .62

NS2 10 4.2 -+ 2,3 .65

NS3 9 4.6 -+ 2,1 .68

NS4 10 3.7 -+ 13 .46

HA1 11 3.8 ÷ 2,3 .66

HA2 7 4.1 -+ 1.7 .65

HA3 8 3.0 ± 2,1 .71

HA4 9 3.2 ± 2.1 .70

RD1 10 6.7 -+ 1.9 .53

RD3 8 4.7 ± 2.1 .66

RD4 6 3.5 +- 1.4 .45

SD1 8 6.4 ± 1.7 .66

SD2 8 5.5 ± 1.6 .47

SD3 5 4.0 ± 1.2 .57

SD4 11 7.9 ± 2.4 .71

SD5 12 8.7 _+ 2.4 .66

C1 8 7.0 +_ 1.2 .56

C2 7 7.9 _+ 1.2 .20

C3 8 6.4 _+ 1.3 .39

C4 10 8.0 _+ 2.0 .74

C5 9 7.3 + 1.4 .43

ST1 11 3.9 + 2.2 .63

ST2 9 3.2 ± 1.9 .64

ST3 13 5.4 ± 3.4 .81

Abbreviations: NS1, exploratory excitability v rigidity; NS2,

impulsiveness v reflection; NS3, extravagance v reserve; NS4,

disorderliness v regimentation; HA1, anticipatory worry v

optimism; HA2, fear of uncertainty vconfidence; HA3, shyness

v gregariousness; HA4, fatigability and asthenia v vigor; RD1,

sentimentality v insensitiveness; RD3, attachment v detach-

ment; RD4, dependence vindependence; SD1, responsibility v

blaming; SD2, purposeful v lack of goal direction; SD3, re-

sourcefulness v apathy; SD4, self-acceptance v self-striving;

SD5, congruent.

bach o~ increased as a function of age, from .35 to .42 and .40 to .66, respectively.

Correlations between the four temperament dimensions and three character dimensions are shown in Table 6. Three correlation coefficients were greater than .30, a cutoff value chosen to enable a direct comparison with Cloninger's original data3; these were HA with SD (r = -.47), C with RD (r = .39), and C with SD (r = .38). All other correlations showed, at most, weak relationships among TCI dimensions.

A principal component analysis of the temperament subscales with a four-factor solution rotated obliquely by oblimin is shown in Table 7. The highest loading for all NS subscales was on factor 1, and for HA on factor 2. RD1 and RD3 of RD showed the highest loading on factor 3. Further, RD4, while also loading on factor 3, showed a

126 BRANDSTROM ET AL

Table 5. Temperament and Character Scales and Subscales and Cronbach ~x for Three Age Groups (N = 1,300)

20-35Years 40 -55Yea rs 60-80Years (n = 400) (n = 400) (n - 500)

Scale/ Subscale Mean ± SD a Mean ± SD ~ Mean ± SD

Age 27.2 ± 5.7 47.6 ± 5.6 70.0 ÷ 7.1

NS 21.9 ± 6.0 .79 19.2 ± 5.3 .73 16.0 ± 4.9 .69

HA 13.4 ± 6.3 .86 13.1 _+ 6.2 .86 15.3 ± 6.1 .84

RD 15.3 z 3.8 .69 15.3 ± 3.6 .64 14.2 _+ 3.1 .52

PS 4.2 ± 2.0 .62 4.1 + 1.8 .56 3.1 _+ 1.6 .40

SD 31.1 ± 6.9 .84 33.2 _+ 6.6 .81 33.2 _+ 5.6 .78

C 33.1±5.2 .80 34.3_+4.3 .74 33.6±4.2 .71

ST 11.7 -+ 5.4 .82 12.4 _+ 6.0 .85 13.3 _+ 6.0 .84

NS1 7.3 -+ 2.3 .61 6.6 ± 2.3 .61 5.3 ± 2.2 .49

NS2 4.5 -+ 2.5 .69 4.3 _+ 2.3 .63 3.8 ± 2.2 .62

NS3 5.5 ± 2.1 .72 4.6 ± 1.9 .62 3.8 -+ 1.9 .57

NS4 4.6-+ 1.9 .46 3.7 ± 1.7 .33 3.1 ± 1.6 .37

HA1 3.8 ± 2.3 .68 3.6 ± 2.2 .69 4.0 ± 2.3 .64

HA2 3.7-+ 1.8 .66 3 .9±1.7 .68 4.5± 1.5 .56

HA3 3.1 ± 2.1 .72 2.8 ± 2.1 .74 3.1 - 2.1 .68

HA4 2.8±2.0 .70 2.9÷ 1.9 .68 3.6±2.2 .70

RD1 6.4 ± 2.0 .57 6.7 - 1.9 .53 7.0 ± 1.7 .49

RD3 5.2 ± 2.1 .70 4.8 ÷ 2.2 .70 4.1 ± 1.8 .55

RD4 3.7± 1.5 .51 3.8 ÷ 1.3 .30 3 .2±1.4 .43

SD1 6.4± 1.8 .68 6.4± 1.7 .65 6 .5± 1.6 .62

SD2 5.5± 1.8 .60 5.8± 1.6 .47 5.6± 1.4 .34

SD3 4.0 ± 1.2 .57 4.2 ± 1.1 .61 3.7 ± 1.3 .52

SD4 7.1 ± 2.7 .75 8.2 ± 2.2 .69 8.4 ± 2.1 .63

SD5 8.2 + 2.5 .69 8.8 -+ 2.4 .57 9.0 ± 2.2 .62

C1 7.0 ± 1.3 .58 7.2 -+ 1.1 .57 6.9 -+ 1.3 .55

C2 5.0 -+ 1.2 .27 5.0 ± 1.1 .20 4.7 -+ 1.2 .19

C3 6.5±1.3 .35 6.6± 1.3 .38 6.2± 1.4 .42

C4 7.4-+ 2.4 .79 8.0 ± 2.0 .74 8.5 ± 1.6 .62

C5 7.1 ± 1.5 .47 7.5 ± 1.3 .38 7.2 ± 1.4 .42

ST1 3.7 _+ 2.2 .64 4.0 ± 2.3 .65 4.0 ± 2.2 .62

ST2 2.6± 1.4 .40 2.9± 1.8 .64 3 .9±2.0 .66

ST3 5.4 ± 3.3 .83 5.5 ± 3.6 .84 5.4 ± 3.3 .86

Abbreviations: NSl, exploratory excitability; NS2, impulsive-

ness; NS3, extravagance; NS4, disorderliness; HA1, anticipa-

tory worry; HA2, fear of uncertainty; HA3, shyness; HA4,

fatigability and asthenia; RD1, sentimentality; RD3, attach-

ment; RD4, dependence; SD1, responsibility; SD2, purposeful;

SD3, resourcefulness; SD4, self-acceptance; SD5, congruent

second nature; C1, social acceptance; C2, empathy; C3, helpful-

ness; C4, compassion; C5, pure-hearted; ST1, self-forgetful;

ST2, transpersonal identification; ST3, spiritual acceptance.

higher loading on factor 2 (HA) and factor 4 (PS). Finally, PS dominated factor 4. The variance explained by each factor was 24.2%, 15.5%, 10.9%, and 8.4%, respectively, and 58.9% cumulatively. Interfactor correlations were low: - . 12 between factors I and 2, .06 between factors l and 3, and .06 between factors 1 and 4. Between factors 2 and 3, the correlation was .05, and between factors 2 and 4, - . 11. The interfactor correlation between factors 3 and 4 was .07.

Principal component analyses of the character

Table 6. Correlations Between Temperament and Character Scales (N = 1,300)

NS HA RD PS SD C

NS

HA -.21

RD .16 .07

PS .03 -.21

SD -.11 - .47"

C -.06 -.17

ST .12 -.06

.06

.04 -.01

.39" .12 .38"

.20 .08 -.07 .15

*Values ->.30.

subscales with a three-factor solution (rotated be- fore) are shown in Table 8. The highest loadings for SD subscales was on factor 1, except for SD4, which showed a higher loading on factor 2. C subscales formed factor 2, and ST subscales formed factor 3. The variance explained by each factor after rotation was 23%, 15.3%, and 10.5%, respectively, and 48%, cumulatively. The interfactor correlation between factors 1 and 2 was .31, reflecting the dual loading of SD4. The interfactor correlation between factors 1 and 3 was - .07 , and between factors 2 and 3, .06.

Test-retest correlations are listed in Table 9. For temperament scales, NS showed a test-retest correlation of .85, HA .84, RD .76, and PS .69. Test-retest correlations for the character scales were .81 for SD, .74 for C, and .85 for ST. On the subscale level, test-retest correlations were .52 to .85. Only C2 (rtt = .55), C3 (rtt = .52), and NS4

Table 7. Factor Pattern of Temperament Subscales in Four-Factor Solution (N = 1,300)

Factor I (NS) Factor 2 (HA) Factor 3 (RD) Factor 4 (PS)

.50* --.36

.72*

.67*

.72*

NSl

NS2

NS3

NS4

HA1

HA2

HA3

HA4

RD1

RD3

RD4

PS

.82"

.74"

.80"

.61" - . 36 .65"

.74"

.39 .23 .56* .76"

NOTE. Only Ioadings with absolute value ->.30 are shown,

except within subscale.

Abbreviations: NSl, exploratory excitability; NS2, impulsive-

ness; NS3, extravagance; NS4, disorderliness; HA1, anticipa-

tory worry; HA2, fear of uncertainty; HA3, shyness; HA4,

fatigability and asthenia; RD1, sentimentality; RD3, attach-

ment; RD4, dependence.

*Highest Ioadings.


Table 8. Factor Pattern of Character Subscales in Three-Factor Solution (N = 1,300)

Factor I (SD) Factor 2 (C) Factor 3 (ST)

SD1 SD2 SD3 SD4 SD5 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 ST1 ST2 ST3

.68"

.82"

.64*

.20

.74* .44"

.68"

.54"

.65*

.62"

.62" .80* .78" .71"

NOTE. Only Ioadings with absolute value >.30 are shown, except within subscale.

Abbreviations: SD1, responsibility; SD2, purposeful; SD3, resourcefulness; SD4, self-acceptance; SD5, congruent second nature; C1, social acceptance; C2, empathy; C3, helpfulness; C4, compassion; C5, pure-hearted; ST1, self-forgetful; ST2, transpersonal identification; ST3, spiritual acceptance.

*Highest Ioadings.

(rtt = .58) showed correlations less than .60. In test-retest, the mean --- SD showed no significant differences except for NS1 and RD, with an increase from 5.8 --- 2.4 to 6.2 ___ 2.5 (t = -3.38, P < .001) and 14.7 ___ 3.5 to 15.1 +_ 3.4 (t = -2.27, P < .007), respectively.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study show that the Swedish TCI is a successful translation of the American version. Using the data reported by Cloninger et al. ~ for comparison, it is clear that the two instru- ments have very similar psychometric properties, including the mean + SD values for the scales, reliability of the scales, correlations between scales, the factor structure of the test, and test-retest reliability. Additionally, in this report, we are able to provide normative data for the Swedish TCI based on a large sample that is broadly representative of the general population of Sweden.

The minor differences between the two versions of the instrument might be the result of several factors. For example, the lower ST score in Sweden probably represents evidence of cultural differences between Sweden and the United States. This interpretation is supported by the fact that only the mean values of the dimension differ between the United States and Sweden, while the internal consistency and factor structure of the ST are very

similar. On the other hand, the difference for PS may be related to the small number of items in the PS scale, its relatively weak internal consistency, item content differences relating to translation issues, or real differences between the United States and Sweden; it is not clear which of these factors is the most important. The demographic composition of the US and Swedish samples may also contribute to differences in the results. The Swedish sample encompasses a larger age range (20 to 81 years), and with the balanced age distribution, it has a much larger representation of those over 50 years old. There appears to be a trend toward slightly lower internal consistency in the older cohorts; an age-related decline in Cronbach's c~ was seen in six of seven main scales and in 21 of 26 subscales. The larger age range may also uncover cohort differences relating to item interpretation, educational level, and other potential factors, e.g., increasing difficulties for the oldest subjects due to cognitive decline or asthenia at the test occasion. The issues of age and gender effects in these data require further study.

Table 9. Test-Retest Correlations for Temperament and Character Inventory After I Year (n = 217)

Temperament Character

Scale and Scale and Subscale rtt Subscale rtt

NS .85 SD .81 HA .84 C .74 RD .76 ST .85 PS .69 SD1 .66 NS1 .72 SD2 .69 NS2 .76 SD3 .68 NS3 .76 SD4 .72 NS4 .58 SD5 .70 HA1 .74 C1 .70 HA2 .75 C2 .55 HA3 .76 C3 .52 HA4 .75 C4 .71 RD1 .68 C5 .61 RD3 .76 RD3 .76 ST1 .70 RD4 .66 ST2 .79

ST3 .85

Abbreviations: NS1, exploratory excitability; NS2, impulsiveness; NS3, extravagance; NS4, disorderliness; HA1, anticipatory worry; HA2, fear of uncertainty; HA3, shyness; HA4, fatigability and asthenia; RD1, sentimentality; RD3, attachment; RD4, dependence; SD1, responsibility; SD2, purposeful; SD3, resourcefulness; SD4, self-acceptance; SD5, congruent second nature; C1, social acceptance; C2, empathy; C3, helpfulness; C4, compassion; C5, pure-hearted; ST1, self-forgetful; ST2, transpersonal; ST3, spiritual acceptance.

128 BRANDSTROM ET AL

Finally, whi le the scales for the seven dimen-

sions measured in the TCI are robust, the rel iabil i ty

of some of the subscales (especial ly C2 and C3) is

weak. We do not v i ew this as a major problem,

because all important conclus ions that have been

drawn in clinical and ep idemiologica l studies have

rel ied on the h igher- level scales.

The Swedish TCI replicates the Amer ican ver-

sion wel l for the mean scale scores, distr ibution o f

scores, and relat ionships be tween and within scales

and subscales. Further, the Swedish inst rument had

good test-retest reliability. Altogether , the results o f

this study demonstra te that the Swedish TCI mea-

sures wel l the d imens ions o f C lon inger ' s seven-

factor mode l o f personality.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We thank Barbara Frankel and Anita Wallinder for helpful comments on earlier translations. We also thank the Betula staff for collaboration.

REFERENCES

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swedish normative data on personality using the temperament and character inventory

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