The Formal Characteristics of Behaviour–Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI): preliminary results of the Italian version

Development of a Culture-Common Formal Characteristics of Behavior - Temperament Markers Inventory (FCB-TMI-CC)

The goal was to create a brief temperament inventory grounded in the Regulative Theory of Temperament (FCB-TMI-CC), with a user-friendly, online applicability for studies in different cultures. As the regulative role of temperament is strongly revealed under meaningful stress, the study was planned within the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure high diversity in terms of culture, economic and environmental conditions, data from nine countries (Poland, United States of America, Italy, Japan, Argentina, South Korea, Ireland, United Kingdom and Kazakhstan) were utilized (min. N = 200 per country). Validation data were gathered on the level of COVID-19 stressors, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, and Big Five personality traits. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis served as the basis for the inventory's construction. The final culture-common version includes 37 items (5-6 in each of the 7 scales) and covers the core aspects of temperament dimensions. Temperament structure was confirmed to be equivalent across measured cultures. The measurement is invariant at the level of factor loadings and the reliability (internal consistency) and theoretical validity of the scales were at least acceptable. Therefore, the FCB-TMI-CC may serve as a valuable tool for studying temperament across diverse cultures and facilitate cross-cultural comparisons.

Parental burnout at different stages of parenthood: Links with temperament, Big Five traits, and parental identity

The study aimed to analyze the links between traits from different levels of personality organization and parental burnout. To answer the research questions, a cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,471 parents aged 19 to 45 years (mean age 35.30, SD = 5.98). The results showed that the severity of parental burnout was linked to traits ranging from biologically determined temperament traits to basic personality traits to a sense of parental identity. More specifically, we found higher burnout among parents who have difficulty shifting between tasks and coping with strong stimulation, low emotional stability and conscientiousness, and low identification with the parental role. We also found that certain personality traits were more strongly associated with parental burnout among those who had children in early childhood or preschool period (under the age of seven) than those in later stages of parenthood. The study contributes knowledge about the personality correlates of parental burnout and the role of personality at different stages of parenthood.

Self-Reported Cognitive Functions Predict the Trajectory of Paranoid Ideation Over a 15-Year Prospective Follow-Up

Background

This study investigated whether self-reported cognitive functions (i.e. task orientation, distractibility, persistence, flexibility, and perseverance) predict the trajectory of paranoid ideation over a 15-year prospective follow-up in adulthood.

Methods

The participants came from the population-based Young Finns study (N = 1210‒1213). Paranoid ideation was assessed with the Paranoid Ideation Scale of the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90R) in 1997, 2001, 2007, and 2012. Self-reported cognitive functions were evaluated in 1997 with the Task orientation, Distractibility, Persistence, and Flexibility scales of the DOTS-R (the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey) and the Perseverance scale of the FCB-TI (the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour – Temperament Inventory). The data was analyzed using growth curve models that were adjusted for age, sex, and socioeconomic factors in childhood and adulthood.

Results

Low self-reported task orientation, low persistence, high distractibility, low flexibility, and high perseverance predicted higher level of paranoid ideation over the 15-year follow-up.

Conclusions

Self-reported cognitive functions seem to predict paranoid ideation over a long-term follow-up. Promoting cognitive functions in early interventions may have long-term protective influences against the development of paranoid ideation in non-clinical populations.

Psychometric Properties of the Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory in Chinese Samples

This paper presents a Chinese adaption of the Formal Characteristics of the Behavior-Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI), a self-report instrument that evaluates six temperamental scales, based on Strelau's concept of temperament. A first sample of 626 undergraduates completed the Chinese version of the Regulative Theory of Temperament Questionnaire (RTTQ), which is an initial pool of 381 items. Internal consistency suggests adequate reliability (.66 to .82), and an exploratory factor analysis revealed a six-factor solution consistent with the original instrument. A follow-up confirmatory factor analysis revealed good support for the temperament structure with a second sample of students (N = 2.980). Internal consistency and factorial structure were re-examined (Cronbach's alpha ranged .64 to .85), and test-retest correlations over a two-week period ranged from .82 to .96 with a third sample of adults (N = 2.265). Convergent and discriminant validity was explored in relation to the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revision Short Scale for Chinese (EPQ-RSC) model dimensions. Results indicate that the Chinese version of the FCB-TI has similar psychometric properties and generally satisfactory reliability and validity.

Temperament as a risk factor for obesity and affective disorders in obese patients in a Polish sample

AIMS

The main purpose of the study was to investigate temperament traits postulated in the Regulative Theory of Temperament that may contribute as risk factors to obesity and, potentially, to affective disorders in obese patients.

METHOD

A cross-sectional design was applied in this study. The study was conducted on a group of 163 obese patients (BMI > 35) that included 59 men and 104 women compared with a control group that included 89 men and 113 women who were non-obese. Temperament was assessed using the formal characteristics of behaviour-temperament inventory (FCB-TI).

RESULTS

Obese patients compared with a control group scored lower in briskness, endurance and activity, and higher in perseveration. When compared with obese men, obese women had higher levels of perseveration and emotional reactivity, and showed lower levels of activity.

CONCLUSIONS

Temperament traits, including low levels of briskness, endurance and activity, may serve as risk factors for the development of obesity. Low levels of these traits with accompanying high levels of perseveration may potentially contribute as risk factors for affective disorders in obese patients. The findings suggest that obese women are at somewhat greater risk than obese men for the development of affective disorders.

Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire: preliminary results of the Italian version

A study was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the translated Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire in an Italian sample. Factorial analysis of the items, performed over 356 respondents (200 women and 156 men) showed a clear correspondence between factorial components and the five a priori hypothesized dimensions. The Italian version has provided satisfactory Cronbach coefficients alpha. Sex differences and intercorrelations among scales are similar to those in the original American sample. Correlations among the dimensions and four other personality measures yielded a satisfactory validity. The low power in this study may explain why the five derived factors explained only 27.6% of the variance in scores. Results suggest that the Italian version is a reliable tool for Italian research in the field of personality and individual differences.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Temperament

Among the criteria for a personality paradigm the following three are the most crucial: biological basis (e. g., genetic contribution to the phenotypic variance), universality (existence of traits in different cultures) and reality (possibility to measure traits by different methods). The present study combines all three criteria to explore the impact of genetic and environmental factors on temperamental traits, as stipulated by Strelau 's regulative theory of temperament, across two culturally different samples (Polish and German), and by means of two diagnostic methods (self-report and peer-rating). The analysis was conducted on data obtained from 1009 same-sex pairs of twins (German sample) and 546 same-sex pairs of twins (Polish sample). For each subject the self-report as well as rating from two independent peers was recorded by both the Polish and German versions of the Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory. Results demonstrate substantial heritability of temperamental traits, although average peer-rating tends to provide lower heritability estimates than self-report (for six traits M = 33% and M = 46% of the total variance, respectively). After separating the error variance from the effect of nonshared environment for both methods (self-report and peer-rating) and both samples, joint analysis indicated a very high impact of genetic factors (the average raised up to 66% of the total variance). No significant “sample” effect was found, so that we may allows to conclude that temperamental traits are determined in both cultures to the same extent by genetic factors.