Background: Previous studies suggest that temperament features of adolescents may be good predictors of the development of future psychopathology in this population. The aim of the study was to adapt the content and validate the psychometric properties of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego - Auto-questionnaire in a sample of Serbian adolescents.Subjects and methods: The sample included 2113 adolescents, 56% girls and 44% boys, average age 16.73±0.47, attending 48 Serbian secondary schools. The base for the development of this scale included Serbian standardised versions as well as the TEMPSI, Interview version.Results: The final scale is comprised of 36 items, with six factors (depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, and anxiouscognitive/somatic) explaining 39.9% of the total variance, the internal consistency coefficient Į=0.77, and the average test–retest coefficient (rho=0.84). The correlations among the temperaments ranged from weak to moderate, with the highest positive correlations between the depressive, cyclothymic and anxious scales. The highest values were detected on hyperthymic and the lowest on depressive temperament. Significantly higher scores of depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperaments were detected in girls, whereas boys had higher scores on the hyperthymic scale.Conclusions: The scale has shown good psychometric properties, which encourages its further use in adolescent population. The results show certain specific features of this population, such as higher scores on all temperament types than the ones in student and adult population and a tendency of socially desirable answers.

Background: Akiskal proposed the "rule of three" for behavioral indicators with high specificity for bipolarity in patients with major depression episodes. We evaluated these distinctive behaviors in controls and subjects with major depression or bipolar disorder.Methods: data was collected in the BRAINSTEP project with questions on general behaviors, style and talents. Univariate analysis was first conducted in 36,742 subjects and confirmatory multivariate analysis in further 34,505 subjects (22% with a mood disorder). Odds ratios were calculated adjusting for age.Results: Univariate analysis showed that 29 behavioral markers differentiated bipolar subjects from those with unipolar depression. The most robust differences in those with bipolarity (ORs > 4) were >= 3 religion changes, >= 3 marriages, cheating the partner regularly, having >= 60 lifetime sexual partners, pathological love, heavy cursing, speaking >= 3 foreign languages, having >= 2 apparent tattoos, circadian dysregulation and high debts. Most behaviors were expressed in a minority of patients (usually around 5-30%) and usually the "rule of three" was the best numerical marker to distinguish those with bipolarity. However, multivariate analysis confirmed 11 of these markers for differentiating bipolar disorder from unipolar depression (reversed circadian rhythm and high debts for both genders, >= 3 provoked car accidents and talent for poetry in men, and frequent book reading, >= 3 religion changes, >= 60 sexual partners, pathological love >= 2 times, heavy cursing and extravagant dressing style in women).Limitations: Self-report data collection onlyConclusions: These behavioral markers should alert the clinician to perform a thorough investigation of bipolarity in patients presenting with a depressive episode. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background: The short version of Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego-Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A) is a useful instrument to measure affective temperaments. Aims of the present study are to validate the Chinese Version of the Short TEMPS-A, and to explore whether it could be useful to distinguish patients with mood disorders from healthy controls or differentiate patients with bipolar disorder (BPD) from those with major depressive disorder (MDD) in Chinese population.Methods: A sample of 715 participants, including 387 patients with MDD, 143 with BPD and 185 healthy controls, was recruited. All participants completed The Chinese Version of the Short TEMPS-A. Standard psychometric tests of reliability and validation were performed. ANOVA, non-parameter test and Multiple Logistic Regression were used to test the association between TEMPS-A scores and mood disorders.Results: The originally proposed five factors of the Chinese Version of the Short TEMPS-A were upheld. The Chronbach-Alpha coefficients of it varied from 0.70 to 0.89 and test-retest Spearman's Correlation Coefficients varied from 0.52 to 0.85. Significant differences were found across the three groups on all five TEMPS-A subscales (P < 0.001). Multiple Logistic Regression showed that hyper-thymic temperament distinguished patients with BPD from those with MDD (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.14-145, P < 0.001) after controlling for age, gender and the severity of depression.Limitations: The cross-sectional self-report design, unbalanced demographic characteristics and undifferentiated subtypes of bipolar disorders might limit the generalizability of the results.Conclusion: The Chinese Version of the Short TEMPS-A shows good reliability and validity. It might be used as a screening tool in the general population to identify the vulnerability for developing a mood disorder and the potential risk for bipolar disorder among those who only have depressive symptoms. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background: The self-rated auto-questionnaire, the Temperament Scale of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A) is the latest development in the study of temperamental attributes. It has been used and validated in different cultures and countries. The current study aims at validating the Chinese (Cantonese) version of the TEMPS-A and comparing the psychometric properties of the long and short forms of the translated scale.Methods: The Chinese (Cantonese) version of TEMPS-A was prepared with the standard translation and back-translation method, and approved by the original authors (HSA & KKA). It was administered to medical students of the two local universities, and results were analyzed.Results: 613 valid questionnaires were returned. The Cronbach-Alpha coefficients for the depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable and anxious temperament subscales were 0.63, 0.82, 0.78, 0.80, and 0.84, respectively. The strongest correlation was observed between the cyclothymic and irritable temperaments (R=0.600). Factor analysis yielded one large composite (depressive and anxious) and four homogenous factors, cyclothymic, anxious, hyperthymic and irritable. A newly reconstituted 43-item short form, based on methods suggested by the original authors yielded similar factor structure.Limitations: The narrow age range of subjects somewhat limits generalization of the results. However, external and concurrent validations against other validated scales have been demonstrated for the original English versions as well as against the most commonly used languages of the world; furthermore, such validation has also been demonstrated for Chinese (Mandarin).Conclusions: The Chinese (Cantonese) version of TEMPS-A and the reconstituted 43-item short form were found to have good internal consistency and factor structures comparable to those of other languages from diverse cultures across the planet. We propose that the Cantonese TEMPS-A is a useful tool for local use. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND:Links between affective temperaments and folk culture have been infrequently explored systematically. Creativity and personality and temperament studies, conversely, have reported several associations. Tango is one of the most typical Argentinean folk dance-musical repertoires. The main purpose of this study is to compare affective temperaments between Argentinean professional tango dancers and the general population. METHODS:TEMPS-A was administered to a sample of 63 professional tango dancers and 63 comparison subjects from the general population who did not practice tango. Subscale median scores and total median scores with non-parametric statistics were analyzed. RESULTS:Median scores on hyperthymic subscale (p ≤ 0.001), irritable subscale (p=0.05) and total median score were significantly higher among tango dancers compared to controls (p ≤ 0.001). LIMITATIONS:Self-report measures were used. A larger sample size would have provided greater statistical power for data analysis. Besides, the naturalistic study design did not allow controlling for other clinical variables and limited the generalization of results to broader populations. CONCLUSIONS:Our data adds new evidence for the hypothesis that artistic performance is related to one's temperament. Tango passionata, which has both melancholic and vigorous (including "upbeat") features, seems to impart tango dancers' hyperthymic and irritable temperament features. Our study supports the increasing literature on the validity of utilizing temperament as a sub-affective traits in relation to artistic creativity and performing arts.

The revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-3) includes 240 items corresponding to the Big Five personality traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience) and subordinate dimensions (facets). It is suitable for use with adolescents and adults (12 years or older). The aim of the current study was to validate the Greek translation of the NEO-PI-3 in the general Greek population.

Background and aims: This study represents the standardisation of the Serbian version of the TEMPS-A scale on non clinical adult population, as well as external validation with TCI-R scale of temperaments which has already been evaluated on Serbian population.Methods: The TEMPS-A has been administered to 570 healthy adults without histories of mental disorders, 47% male, 53% female, aged between 20 and 76 (M=35.55; SD=14.14) In line with the state census data, the sampling was partially stratified according to gender, age categories, education and regional area of the participants.Results: In contrast to many other studies, six factors were extracted herein, including 41 items with loadings above .50, explaining 44.40% of the total variance. The infernal consistency of the scale was alpha=.83, and the average test-retest coefficient (rho=.82) indicates a stable reliability. The highest positive correlations were obtained between the depressive and cyclothymic scales, depressive and anxious scales, and cyclothymic with anxious scales. The highest values were detected on hyper-thymic and the lowest on depressive temperament The highest positive correlations were reported between harm avoidance (measured by the TCI-R) and depressive, anxious, cydothymic temperament, and between novelty seeking and hyperthymic temperament. The highest negative correlation was detected between harm avoidance and hyperthymic. Finally, females scored higher on depressive, cydothymic and anxious, while males scored higher on hyperthymic temperament.Limitations: The participants' educational background was slightly higher than that of the general population of Serbia. Since the scale is aimed at its administration in clinical population as well, it is necessary that its structure and validity be also tested on specific clinical subpopulations in the future.Conclusions: The current study is significant in having confirmed that the TEMPS-A can be reliably and validly used in identifying affective temperaments in the adult nonclinical population in Serbia, which provides the basis and norms for future comparisons with clinical subpopulations. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Objectives: We investigated temperamental dimensions of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) as well as bipolarity features in male and female subjects engaging in extreme or/and high risk sports.Methods: The web-based case-control study was performed in 480 subjects engaging in extreme or/and high risk sports (255 male, 225 female) aged 26 +/- 6 years and in 235 age- and sex-matched healthy controls subjects (107 male, 128 female), aged 28 +/- 9 years. The TEMPS-A questionnaire, 110 questions version, has been used, evaluating five temperament domains: depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable and anxious. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) was employed for the assessment of bipolarity.Results: Both male and female athletes had significantly higher scores of hyperthymic temperaments compared with control male and female subjects who had declared themselves as not involved into the activities of extreme or/and high risk sports. In addition, compared with controls, male sportsmen had lower scores of depressive and anxious temperaments, and female athletes had higher scores of cyclothymic and irritable temperaments. Both male and female athletes obtained significantly higher scores of bipolarity as measured by the MDQ, than control men and women.Limitations: Web-based study involving a risk of selection and recall bias, problematic homogeneity of the experimental group.Conclusions: Subjects engaged into extreme or/and high risk sports have significantly higher scores of hyperthymic temperament, measured by the TEMPS-A and present sex-specific features of other temperaments. Such subjects obtain also greater bipolarity scores as measured by the MDQ. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background: The current study evaluates the reliability and factor-structure replicability of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) in its Greek Version.Methods: The TEMPS-A was administered to a convenient sample of 734 subjects from the general Greek population (436 females; 594% and 298 males; 40.6%). Their mean age was 40.80 +/- 11.48 years (range 25-67 years). The analysis included the calculation of Chronbach's alpha, the calculation of the threshold to define dominant temperaments (+2 standard deviations or 95th percentile), confirmatory factor analysis and the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients between the temperament scales scores. Analysis of Covariance with age as covariate and post-hoc t-test was used to search for differences in temperament scores between males and females. Also a table of percentile values corresponding to a raw score was created.Results: Internal consistency was excellent for the various temperaments (0.72-0.88). The factor analysis confirmed the five factor solution as the best factor solution. All TEMPS items were included in the final version of the scale in the Greek language.Limitations: The study sample included subjects from the general population, but it is a convenient and not representative sample. Although the authors tried to select them on the basis of being mentally healthy and without a psychiatric history, there is always a degree of uncertainty. There is also always the possibility some of them to manifest a mental disorder in the future, thus being currently in a premorbid state.Conclusion: The Greek version of the TEMPS A, has good internal consistency and factor structure similar to what was found in other translations. Overall our results are in accord with the literature and in line with theoretical considerations as well as with empirical evidence. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Background: Bipolar patients seem to be at high risk of trauma exposure and, when exposed, of PTSD. When comorbid, PTSD has shown a negative impact on the course of the bipolar illness. Conversely, a correlation between even manic symptoms and an increased risk for suicide has also been reported in PTSD patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between lifetime mood spectrum symptoms and PTSD in a sample of earthquake survivors.Methods: A total of 475 young adults who survived the L'Aquila 2009 earthquake, 21 months earlier, were assessed by the Moods Spectrum-Self Report (MOODS-SR) and the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self Report (TALS-SR).Results: Significantly higher MOODS-SR and TALS-SR domain scores were found in PTSD survivors compared to those without. The mood depressive (O.R. = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.10-1.25), cognition depressive (O.R. = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01-1.14) and energy manic (O.R. = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.25) MOODS-SR domains were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of PTSD.Conclusions: Our data corroborate the strong relationship between mood disorder and PTSD highlighting a relationship between lifetime depressive and manic symptoms and PTSD, with a particular impact of the latter on the number of traumatic exposures and maladaptive behaviors. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Background: Affective temperaments such as cyclothymia, which may be the fundamental substrates for bipolar disorder and bipolar II in particular, have been reported to be associated with abnormalities in the regions that are related to cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder. However, few studies have examined the effects of affective temperaments on neuropsychological performance in individuals with bipolar disorderMethod: In a six-week prospective study, we administered Chinese version of TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, San Diego-Autoquestionnair) to 93 patients with bipolar l depression, 135 patients with bipolar II depression, and 101 healthy controls. Cognitive function was assessed with a battery of neuropsychological tasks, including attention, processing speed, set shifting, planning, verbal working memory, verbal fluency, and visual spatial memory. Mixed-effects statistical models were used to assess the effects of affective temperaments on cognitive function.Results: Bipolar patients with hyperthymic temperament showed greater cognitive deficits in set shifting (p=0.05) and verbal working memory (p=0.026) than did bipolar patients with non-predominant temperaments (predominant temperament was defined as one standard deviation above the mean). The differences in estimated marginal means were -0.624(95% CI, -1.25 to 0) and -0.429(95% CI, -0.81 to -0.05), respectively. Significant temperament X bipolar subtype interaction effects were observed for set shifting (Wald X-2=18.161, p<0.001), planning (Wald X-2=7.906, p=0.048), and visual spatial memory (Wald X-2=16.418, p=0.001).Limitation: The anxious temperament was not evaluated.Conclusion: Our data suggest that hyperthymic temperament may be associated with cognitive deficits in some specific domains in bipolar disorder; and that the effect of temperaments may be different across subtypes of bipolar disorder. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Objectives: We investigated the effect of co-morbid bipolar disorder and bulimia on temperamental dimensions measured by TEMPS-A, relative to "pure" bulimia and "pure" bipolar disorder, in female patients.Methods: The study was performed on 47 patients with bipolar disorder (BD) with a mean age of 36 +/- 10 years, 96 patients with bulimia or bulimic type of anorexia, mean age 26 +/- 9 years and 50 control healthy females (HC), mean age 29 +/- 6 years. Among bulimic patients, a group of 68 subjects with co-morbid bulimia with bipolarity (BD + B) was identified, based on positive score of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). The TEMPS-A questionnaire, 110 questions version, has been used, evaluating five temperament domains: depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable and anxious. Parametric analysis was performed for 4 groups (BD, "pure" bulimia (PB), BD + B and HC), with 28 subjects randomly chosen from each group, using analysis of variance and cluster analysis.Results: All clinical groups significantly differed from control group by having higher scores of depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperaments and lower of hyperthymic one. Among patients, significantly higher scores of cyclothymic and irritable temperaments were found in BD + B compared to both PB and BD. These differences were also reflected in cluster analysis, where two clusters were identified.Limitations: Bipolarity in bulimic patients assessed only by the MDQ.Conclusions: These results show that co-morbid bulimia and bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme dimensions of both cyclothymic and irritable temperaments, significantly higher than each single diagnosis. Possible clinical implications of such fact are discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,

Background Bipolar disorder (BD) patients have been reported to be associated higher creativity abilities, and recent data tend to support the hypothesis that dopaminergic system that could be associated with creativity. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the major enzymes involved in the metabolic degradation of dopamine. The COMT gene polymorphism (rs4680 or Val158Met) Met allele is reported to cause decreased activity of this enzyme in prefrontal cortex and improve performance in several cognitive domains. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of Val158Met on creativity in BD type I and healthy controls. Methods Ninety-seven healthy volunteers and 120 BD type I were genotyped for COMT rs4680 and tested for creativity (Barrow Welsh Art Scale – BWAS) and intelligence Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Results COMT Met allele positively influenced creativity scores in healthy controls but not in BD subjects during mood episodes and euthymia. The presence of allele Met did not influence IQ scores. No influence of IQ total score on creativity was observed. Limitations control group presented higher IQ scores and euthymic group was under medication use. Discussion Our research suggests positive effect of COMT rs4680 (allele Met) on creativity scores in healthy controls. One possible interpretation is that creativity is more likely to be associated with lesser degrees of bipolarity. The fact that the same results were not observed in BD may be associated to dysfunctions in the dopaminergic system that characterizes this disorder. Further studies with larger samples and other types of BD should explore the role of the dopaminergic system in creativity.

Background: The Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Questionnaire (TEMPS) has, in its self and rater-wise evaluation form, been designed to evaluate temperamental characteristics in clinical and non-clinical populations.Methods: In this study we aim to extend the field of correlations of TEMPS to include the Occupational Personality Questionnaire, ipsative version (OPQ32i). These correlations, if present, could provide a partial contribute to the validation process of TEMPS, currently in progress in various countries. OPQ32 is a self-report personality questionnaire designed to give information on an individual's preferred behavior, as assessed in terms of a number of work-related characteristics. In 921 applicants, who were competing to become cadets in the Italian Navy, we assessed, during the entrance examination, the correlations between TEMPS-A[P] and OPQ32i.Results: Depressive temperament implies a low level of ability to relate to others; hyperthymic temperament implies high levels of feelings and emotions, and the capability to relate to people; cyclothymic temperament appears to be distinguished by creativity and a low level of relationships with others; irritable temperament partly overlaps with cyclothymic temperament, the main difference being the higher level of energy and the lower level of empathy of irritable subjects.Conclusions: The four affective temperaments, in our sample, proved to significantly differ in the work capacity features measured by OPQ32 factors. These observed correlations between the two tests partially contributes to the ongoing validation process of TEMPS-A[P]. From a personality standpoint this study further supports the hypothesis that temperaments belong to the realm of normality rather than that of pathology, in line with their putative adaptive role. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Background: TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego- Autoquestionnaire) is a self-rated instrument that measures five affective temperaments: depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, and anxious. The aim of our study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Slovenian TEMPS-A and to ascertain if temperament profile is related to the professions chosen by Slovenian students.Methods: 892 Slovenian university students in six different professional fields (economics, geography, engineering, law, sports pedagogy and nursing) were included in our study.Results: Cronbach's reliability coefficients denoted acceptable internal consistency of the subscales. Principal component analysis revealed relatively good internal structure of the instrument. Nursing and geography students scored the highest on depressive temperament. Sports pedagogues as well as engineers demonstrated the most firm personality structure with distinctive hyperthymic temperament. Law students revealed the most irritable temperament, while nursing and law students scored the highest on anxious temperament.Limitations: Sample of Slovenian students is not representative for general population. The structure of the sample was crucial as well, as it comprised mainly of younger students who just started their study.Conclusions: The Slovenian version of the TEMPS-A proved to have relatively good internal consistency and internal structure. The questionnaire verified as a reliable and valid instrument and generally in line with previous studies. This study strengthens the perspective that professional areas could be associated with distinct affective temperament profile that could influence career decisions. The findings in students of economics, geography, and sport pedagogy are new as they have not been previously investigated by TEMPS researchers. The results open new possibilities for future research. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.