TEMPS-I: delineating the most discriminant traits of the cyclothymic, depressive, hyperthymic and irritable temperaments in a nonpatient population

Background: Although most personality constructs have been standardized in population studies, cyclothymic, depressive, irritable and hyperthymic temp eraments putatively linked to mood disorders have been classically derived from clinical observations. Methods: We therefore administered the semi-str uctured affective temperament schedule of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Dieg o, Interview version (TEMPS-I) - in its original University of Tennessee op erationalization - to 1010 Italian students aged between 14 and 26. The int erview, administered in a randomized format, took 20 min per subject. Resul ts: The semi-structured interview was easy to administer and well accepted by subjects, with no refusals. Principal component analysis with varimax ro tation confirmed the hypothesized four-dimensional factor structure of the interview, with good to excellent internal consistency. Furthermore, discri minant analysis and multiple regression provided suggestions for identifyin g the traits that are most useful in defining a weighted cut-off for each o f the temperaments (and which, with minor exceptions, are in agreement with those previously proposed on clinical grounds). In an additional explorato ry factorial analysis, a depressive type which loads negatively on hyperthy mia was distinguished from cyclothymia; the irritable temperament did not a ppear to have significant loading on either factor. Limitation: All the pre sent analyses were internal to the scale itself, but ongoing studies are co mparing them with other systems of temperament as well as testing their cli nical cogency for affectively ill populations. Conclusion: While more work needs to be done on better operationalization of the irritable temperament, our findings overall support the existence - in a relatively young nonpati ent population - of cyclothymic, depressive and hyperthymic types according to the classic descriptions of Kraepelin, Kretschmer and Schneider, in the ir TEMPS-I operationalization. Clinical implications: Coupled with a previo us report identifying 10% of the same 14-26-year-old nonpatient population meeting an empirically defined statistical cut-off for these temperaments, the present data define the putative 'fundamental states' that Kraepelin co nsidered to be the personal predisposing anlage of major affective disorder s. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.