Hs. Akiskal et al., TEMPS-I: delineating the most discriminant traits of the cyclothymic, depressive, hyperthymic and irritable temperaments in a nonpatient population, J AFFECT D, 51(1), 1998, pp. 7-19
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.