Elsevier

Psychiatry Research

Volume 94, Issue 1, 24 April 2000, Pages 67-76
Psychiatry Research

Normative data and factor structure of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in the French version

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-1781(00)00127-XGet rights and content

Abstract

We explored the psychometric features of the French Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in a 602-subject community sample (263 men and 339 women), representative of the French population. The factor structures of the temperament and character dimensions, explored separately, were in agreement with the hypothesized constructs, except for the scales Novelty Seeking NS1 (exploratory excitability), Persistence, and Self-Directedness SD4 (self-acceptance). The internal consistency of the main dimensions was good (Cronbach alpha coefficients between 0.68 and 0.82), but weak for Persistence (0.49). The mean scores of the temperament dimensions were notably different from those published in other normative data — especially lower for Novelty Seeking (16.4±5.6) and higher for Harm Avoidance (16.1±7.2) when compared with US data — suggesting cross-cultural differences in personality assessment, and the necessity to use specific normative values with each translated instrument.

Introduction

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is a 226-item, self-administered, true–false questionnaire developed by Cloninger to assess seven dimensions of personality (Cloninger et al., 1993, Cloninger et al., 1994). These dimensions reflect his psychobiological model of temperament and character. The four temperament dimensions are supposed to be highly heritable, stable throughout life, and underlined by specific neurotransmission systems. Novelty seeking (NS) is defined as a hereditary tendency to respond actively to novel stimuli, with frequent exploratory activity in response to novelty or impulsive decision-making. Harm avoidance (HA) is viewed as a heritable bias in the inhibition of behaviors, such as pessimistic worry, passive dependent behaviors, or rapid fatigability. Reward dependence (RD) is defined as a heritable bias in the maintenance or continuation of ongoing behaviors, and is manifest as sentimentality and social attachment or dependence. Persistence (P) is defined as a hereditary tendency to perseverance despite frustration and fatigue.

The three character facets, which reflect individual differences in goals, values, and self-conscious emotions, are influenced by social learning and are hypothesized to be less developed in immature personality and in personality disorder. Self-directedness (SD) refers to self-determination and ‘willpower’, to self-esteem, and to the ability of an individual to control, regulate and adapt his behavior in accord with personal goals and values. Cooperativeness (C) refers to individual differences in identification with and acceptance of other people (agreeability, compassion, empathy, etc.). Self-transcendence (ST) refers to spiritual maturity, transpersonal identification, and self-forgetfulness.

Each of these dimensions, except P, is explored by between 24 and 44 items of the TCI, and involves three to five facets measured by subscales of the main scales. Persistence is explored by only eight items, not subdivided. The TCI is an extension of the former Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which evaluates only the dimensions of temperament (Cloninger, 1987, Cloninger et al., 1991, Svrakic et al., 1991).

Two studies have established the validity and the reliability of the original American version of the TCI in individuals from the general community (Cloninger et al., 1993) and in psychiatric patients (Svrakic et al., 1993). Numerous other psychometric studies have been carried out on the TPQ (Svrakic et al., 1991, Kleifield et al., 1993, Takeuchi et al., 1993, Lépine et al., 1994), and have supported the validity of the four temperament dimensions, especially from a genetic point of view (Cloninger et al., 1993, Stallings et al., 1996).

The TCI, as well as the TPQ, has been translated into several languages and used in more and more genetic studies (review in Cloninger, 1998), and in various clinical studies (Bayon et al., 1996, Allgullander et al., 1997, Ampollini et al., 1997, Black and Sheline, 1997, Tome et al., 1997, Bejerot et al., 1998, Bulik et al., 1999, Hansenne et al., 1999 Mulder et al., 1999). Normative data have been recently published from a Swedish epidemiological sample of 1300 adults (Brändström et al., 1998). However, such psychometric investigations in large community samples are rather scarce, especially for translated versions of the TCI (Tanaka et al., 1997, De la Rie et al., 1998).

The TCI was translated into French based upon consensus of five bilingual clinicians. This translated version, approved by Cloninger, has been used in France and in French-speaking countries since 1993. Its factor structure and its reliability have been tested in various clinical and non-clinical samples (Pélissolo and Lépine, 1997), and a validation study on a computerized version of this inventory has been published (Pélissolo et al., 1997). This questionnaire has also been used in French-speaking patients with depression (Hansenne et al., 1999), but no normative data for the French version of the TCI have been available to date. Such normative data are necessary to interpret the figures obtained with the TCI in French-speaking subjects, but are also of interest to address some cross-cultural issues about the assessment of personality in various countries, e.g. the US compared to European countries. Indeed, cross-cultural validation studies have been published for depression scales (Roberts et al., 1990, Takeuchi et al., 1994), for expressed emotion scales (Leeb et al., 1991), or for cognitive functioning assessment instruments (Velligan et al., 1995), but less information is available for temperament scales (Svrakic et al., 1991).

Section snippets

Objectives

The primary objective of this study was to obtain French normative data for scores and sub-scores of the TCI in a representative community sample. Other objectives were to explore the internal consistency of the scores and sub-scores of the TCI in a translated version, to explore the factor structures of temperament and character dimensions, and to determine cut-off scores for temperament dimensions in order to delineate categorical typology of personality as described by Cloninger et al. (1993)

Subjects

A group of 750 subjects was first identified by the SOFRES survey institute as representative of the French general population in terms of sex, age, socio-professional categories, household location and type. The TCI was sent by mail to these subjects, with the usual instructions and explanations of the purposes of the study presented as an investigation into the ‘vision of the life’ of the French people. A total of 602 subjects (80.3%) completed and returned the questionnaire, with fewer than

Sample

Among the 602 respondents, 263 were men (43.7%) and 339 women (56.3%) with a mean age of 46.5±17.7 years, i.e. 46.3±17.7 years in men and 46.7±17.7 years in women. Educational level was under 6 years for 20.6% of subjects, and above 15 years for 14.3%. Almost half of the sample (45.2%) had a level of education equal to or higher than the French baccalaureat. The majority of subjects were married (56.5%), 9.3% were cohabiting, 19.8% were single, 6.1% divorced, and 8.3% widowed. The subjects

Discussion

Two types of results about the TCI are available in this study, conducted in a French representative sample, and can be discussed: normative data, and psychometric features about the structure and the reliability of the instrument.

Mean scores of this French version of the TCI can first be compared to those published by Cloninger et al. (1993) in a community sample of 300 subjects in US with the original version (Pélissolo et al., 1998). French scores are lower for all dimensions except for HA

Conclusion

Our results have shown that the psychometric properties of the TCI are preserved in the French version, in particular the factor structure and the internal consistency of scales and sub-scales, the latter being notably less reliable than the higher order dimensions. On the other hand, the mean scores obtained in a French normative community sample were slightly different from those obtained with the original version of the TCI. These results suggest that specific cross-cultural normative data

Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by SmithKline Beecham (France). We thank Françoise Duveau, MD (SmithKline Beecham, France) and Frédéric Los (TN-Sofres Healthcare, France) for their help. The authors of the TCI translation into French are: A. Pélissolo, M. Téhérani, R.M. Bourgault, C. Musa, and J.P. Lépine.

References (32)

  • M. Takeuchi et al.

    Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire among university students

    Comprehensive Psychiatry

    (1993)
  • M.B. Tome et al.

    Serotonergic autoreceptor blockade in the reduction of antidepressant latency: personality variables and response to paroxetine and pindolol

    Journal of Affective Disorders

    (1997)
  • D.I. Velligan et al.

    Validity of the Allen Cognitive Levels Assessment: a tri-ethnic comparison

    Psychiatry Research

    (1995)
  • S. Wang et al.

    Relationships between hormonal profile and novelty seeking in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder

    Biological Psychiatry

    (1997)
  • C. Allgullander et al.

    Changes on the Temperament and Character Inventory after paroxetine treatment in volunteers with generalized anxiety disorder

    Psychopharmacology Bulletin

    (1997)
  • P. Ampollini et al.

    Temperament and personality features in panic disorder with or without comorbid mood disorders

    Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica

    (1997)
  • Cited by (126)

    • Personality traits associated with blepharospasm: A comparison with healthy subjects, patients with facial hemispasm and patients with hyperhidrosis

      2020, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience
      Citation Excerpt :

      On the contrary, we found that BSP patients were older than EH and HFS patients. Although we could not exclude the possible confounding effect of age on the personality differences between BSP and EH and HFS groups, several normative studies of the TCI-R have demonstrated that age is associated consistently only with Novelty Seeking [32–36]. Regarding the association between age and Harm Avoidance, Persistency and Reward Dependence, the validation studies have revealed mixed results.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text