Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: This Study aimed to validate the temperament and character inventory (TCI) in an Iranian sample of men and women with different ages. TCI contains subscales designed to measure seven different personality traits and characteristics.

Materials and Methods: In the first step, subjects (n=1212) completed the questionnaire. In the second step, to examine the reliability of the questionnaire, 101 randomly chosen subjects were re-tested one to two months after the first test. Also, in order to examine the validity of the questionnaire, 100 subjects were interviewed by two psychologists using a checklist based on the Cloninger&aposs biological theory of personality. The interviewers, who were blind to the subjects&apos scores on the seven subscales, rated each subject for the seven traits and characteristics on a 10-point rating scale (from 1 to 10).

Results & Conclusion: The results showed normative data for the subscales novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD), persistence (Per), self directiveness (SD), cooperation (Co) and self transcendence (ST) for different gender and age classes. Correlations between the scores and ratings of the test and re-test revealed significant coefficients, confirming reliability for all subscales. A good internal consistency was found for each subscale. The results also showed no significant correlations higher than 0.40 among NS, HA, Per and RD the temperament subscales were independent from each other. The only significant correlation, higher than 0.40, among the character subscales was between SD and Co. Applied and clinical implication of the present findings will be discussed.

Background: The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) efficiently diagnoses personality disorders, differentiating the individual subtypes. This research aimed to evaluate personality dimensions using the Cloninger TCI (TCI-125) in a group of people with borderline personality disorders at Ruzbeh Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 27 borderline personality patients were evaluated with a clinical interview based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition text revision (DSM-ІV-TR) and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-ІV Axis IІ (SCIDII). Depression and anxiety scores of patients were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) questionnaires. Dimensions of temperament and character traits were assessed using the TCI-125. The findings were compared with parameters of the normal Iranian population.

Results: Results showed higher scores for novelty seeking and harm avoidance and lower scores for self directedness, self transcendence and cooperativeness in borderline personality disorder patients.

Conclusion: The results of the Cloninger TCI in this study showed higher scores for novelty seeking and harm avoidance and lower scores for self directedness than those of the normal Iranian population. Scores for reward dependence fell within the range of the normal population. Lower scores for character factors, such as self directedness, cooperativeness and self transcendence, are usually associated with cluster B personality traits. Higher scores for novelty seeking and harm avoidance are usually characteristic of borderline personality disorder patients. In this study, there is the possibility that the small sample size or other factors, such as medication or substance abuse, might affect the study, resulting in normal scores for reward dependence.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: It is extremely important to validate psychological (psychometric) tools before use in research projects. In fact without reliable and valid psychological tools, we can not rely on research results. TCI contains subscales designed to measure seven different personality traits and characteristics. This paper presents complementary findings to a previous study. In fact, the aim of this study was to summarize a normative data of TCI for an Iranian sample of men and women with different ages.
Methods: At first all research workers, who collected data in present study, were trained for the skills needed in order to communicate with the participant and to conduct the questionnaire. Randomly selected participants (n=1212) completed TCI questionnaire.
Results: The results showed normative data for the subscales novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD), persistence (Per), self directiveness (SD), cooperation (Co) and self transcendence (ST) for different gender and age classes.
Conclusions: Similarities and differences of the present findings and other studies will be theoretically discussed. The sample of participants in this study allows us to generalize the collected data. The results shows that now we can benefit from using the questionnaire in Iranian society. Different applications of TCI in various clinical and normal settings will be discussed. The present results is complementary to the previous findings reported in the same journal.