Association between neurological soft signs, temperament and character in patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic relatives

The heritability of schizophrenia and most personality traits has been well established, but the role of personality in susceptibility to schizophrenia remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to test for an association between personality traits and Neurological Soft Signs (NSS), a well-known biological marker of schizophrenia, in non-psychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia. For this purpose, we evaluated the NSS scale and personality measured by the Temperament and Character inventory (TCI-R) in three groups of subjects: 29 patients with schizophrenia, 24 unaffected relatives and 37 controls. The results showed that patients with schizophrenia were more asocial (higher harm avoidance and lower reward dependence), more perseverative (higher persistence), and more schizotypal (lower self-directedness and cooperativeness, higher self-transcendence). The unaffected relatives showed higher harm avoidance, lower self-directedness and cooperativeness than the healthy controls. Higher NSS scores and sub-scores were found in patients and non-psychotic relatives compared with the controls. Among all the patients, total NSS scores were positively correlated with harm avoidance but negatively correlated with novelty seeking and persistence. Total NSS were also correlated with low scores on self-directedness and cooperativeness, which are indicators of personality disorder. Our results show that susceptibility to NSS and to schizophrenia are both related to individual differences in the temperament and character features in non-psychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia. High harm avoidance, low persistence, low self-directedness and low cooperativeness contribute to both the risk of NSS and schizophrenia. These findings highlight the value of using both assessments to study high risk populations.

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Association between neurological soft signs, temperament and character in patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic relatives

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1647 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Liliana Galindo ◽

Francisco Pastoriza ◽

Daniel Bergé ◽

Anna Mané ◽

Marisol Picado ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Biological Marker ◽

Harm Avoidance ◽

Novelty Seeking ◽

Temperament And Character Inventory ◽

Neurological Soft Signs ◽

Character Inventory ◽

High Risk Populations ◽

Self Transcendence

The heritability of schizophrenia and most personality traits has been well established, but the role of personality in susceptibility to schizophrenia remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to test for an association between personality traits and Neurological Soft Signs (NSS), a well-known biological marker of schizophrenia, in non-psychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia. For this purpose, we evaluated the NSS scale and personality measured by the Temperament and Character inventory (TCI-R) in three groups of subjects: 29 patients with schizophrenia, 24 unaffected relatives and 37 controls. The results showed that patients with schizophrenia were more asocial (higher harm avoidance and lower reward dependence), more perseverative (higher persistence), and more schizotypal (lower self-directedness and cooperativeness, higher self-transcendence). The unaffected relatives showed higher harm avoidance, lower self-directedness and cooperativeness than the healthy controls. Higher NSS scores and sub-scores were found in patients and non-psychotic relatives compared with the controls. Among all the patients, total NSS scores were positively correlated with harm avoidance but negatively correlated with novelty seeking and persistence. Total NSS were also correlated with low scores on self-directedness and cooperativeness, which are indicators of personality disorder. Our results show that susceptibility to NSS and to schizophrenia are both related to individual differences in the temperament and character features in non-psychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia. High harm avoidance, low persistence, low self-directedness and low cooperativeness contribute to both the risk of NSS and schizophrenia. These findings highlight the value of using both assessments to study high risk populations.

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Temperament and character inventory (TCI) personality profile in metamphetamine abusers: a controlled study

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2004.04.003 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 193-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Ladislav Hosák ◽

Marek Preiss ◽

Martin Halíř ◽

Eva Čermáková ◽

Ladislav Csémy

Keyword(s):

Healthy Volunteers ◽

Harm Avoidance ◽

Controlled Study ◽

Personality Questionnaire ◽

Novelty Seeking ◽

Personality Profile ◽

Temperament And Character Inventory ◽

Prevention And Treatment ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Self Transcendence

AbstractWe applied the temperament and character inventory (TCI) personality questionnaire in 41 inpatients dependent on metamphetamine, and 35 controls. Novelty seeking, harm avoidance and self-transcendence were significantly higher, and persistence, self-directedness and cooperativeness were significantly lower in the patients than in the healthy volunteers. The detected differences may be important for prevention and treatment.

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Relationship between two dimensional models of personality

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2015.09.231 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (S2) ◽

pp. S120-S121 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

B. Calvet ◽

M. Bricaud ◽

H. Merveille ◽

J. Dur ◽

J.P. Clément

Keyword(s):

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Harm Avoidance ◽

Novelty Seeking ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Temperament And Character Inventory ◽

Five Factors ◽

Reward Dependence ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Self Transcendence

Relationships between the seven dimensions of the Cloninger's psychobiological model (1993) and the five factors of the Costa and McCrae's model (1990) were examined in this study of 200 subjects from French general population. The dimensions of temperament (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence) and character (self-directedness, cooperativeness, self-transcendence) from the Cloninger's model were measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory-125 items (TCI-125) and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness) was evaluated using the NEOPersonality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R). Correlation and multiple regression analyses have highlighted that all the temperamental and character dimensions predict all Neo-PI-R domains and vice versa. There are particularly close relationships between harm avoidance, self-directedness, neuroticism and extraversion; between novelty seeking and extraversion, openness, conscientiousness; between reward dependence, cooperativeness, extraversion, openness and agreeableness; between persistence and conscientiousness; and finally between self-transcendence and agreeableness. As a result, due to their relationship with temperamental dimensions of psychobiological model, the FFM domains could be related to brain monoaminergic activities.

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The revised Temperament and Character Inventory: normative data by sex and age from a Spanish normal randomized sample

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.1481 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. e1481 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alfonso Gutierrez-Zotes ◽

Javier Labad ◽

Lourdes Martorell ◽

Ana Gaviria ◽

Carmen Bayón ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Based ◽

Harm Avoidance ◽

Short Version ◽

Novelty Seeking ◽

Temperament And Character Inventory ◽

Reward Dependence ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Young Subjects ◽

Self Transcendence ◽

Univariate Analyses

Objectives.The psychometric properties regarding sex and age for the revised version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and its derived short version, the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-140), were evaluated with a randomized sample from the community.Methods.A randomized sample of 367 normal adult subjects from a Spanish municipality, who were representative of the general population based on sex and age, participated in the current study. Descriptive statistics and internal consistency according toαcoefficient were obtained for all of the dimensions and facets.T-tests and univariate analyses of variance, followed by Bonferroni tests, were conducted to compare the distributions of the TCI-R dimension scores by age and sex.Results.On both the TCI-R and TCI-140, women had higher scores for Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence and Cooperativeness than men, whereas men had higher scores for Persistence. Age correlated negatively with Novelty Seeking, Reward Dependence and Cooperativeness and positively with Harm Avoidance and Self-transcendence. Young subjects between 18 and 35 years had higher scores than older subjects in NS and RD. Subjects between 51 and 77 years scored higher in both HA and ST. The alphas for the dimensions were between 0.74 and 0.87 for the TCI-R and between 0.63 and 0.83 for the TCI-140.Conclusion.Results, which were obtained with a randomized sample, suggest that there are specific distributions of personality traits by sex and age. Overall, both the TCI-R and the abbreviated TCI-140 were reliable in the ‘good-to-excellent’ range. A strength of the current study is the representativeness of the sample.

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Aberrant Salience among Young Healthy Postgraduate University Students: The Role of Cannabis Use, Psychotic-Like Experiences, and Personality

Psychopathology ◽

10.1159/000520331 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Andrea Patti ◽

Gabriele Santarelli ◽

Giulio D’Anna ◽

Andrea Ballerini ◽

Valdo Ricca

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Positive Symptom ◽

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Symptom Frequency ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Aberrant Salience ◽

Self Transcendence

Aberrant salience (AS) is an anomalous world experience which plays a major role in psychotic proneness. In the general population, a deployment of this construct – encompassing personality traits, psychotic-like symptoms, and cannabis use – could prove useful to outline the relative importance of these factors. For this purpose, 106 postgraduate university students filled the AS Inventory (ASI), the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Lifetime cannabis users (<i>n</i> = 56) and individuals who did not use cannabis (<i>n</i> = 50) were compared. The role of cannabis use and psychometric indexes on ASI total scores was tested in different subgroups (overall sample, cannabis users, and nonusers). The present study confirmed that cannabis users presented higher ASI scores. The deployment of AS proved to involve positive symptom frequency (assessed through CAPE), character dimensions of self-directedness and self-transcendence (TCI subscales), and cannabis use. Among nonusers, the role of personality traits (assessed through the TCI) was preeminent, whereas positive psychotic-like experiences (measured by means of CAPE) had a major weight among cannabis users. The present study suggests that pre-reflexive anomalous world experiences such as AS are intertwined with reflexive self-consciousness, personality traits, current subclinical psychotic symptoms, and cannabis use. In the present study, subthreshold psychotic experiences proved to play a major role among cannabis users, whereas personality appeared to be more relevant among nonusers.

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Personality traits mediate the association between perceived parental bonding and well-being in adult volunteers from the community

BioPsychoSocial Medicine ◽

10.1186/s13030-020-00198-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Akiko Murakoshi ◽

Nobuyuki Mitsui ◽

Jiro Masuya ◽

Yota Fujimura ◽

Shinji Higashi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Parental Bonding ◽

Well Being ◽

Harm Avoidance ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Reward Dependence ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Self Transcendence ◽

Adult Volunteers

Abstract Background Previous studies reported that subjective well-being in adulthood correlates with perceived parental bonding in childhood as well as personality traits. However, whether personality traits mediate the effect of perceived parental bonding on well-being or not has not been reported to date. In this study, we hypothesized that ‘parental care and overprotection’ in childhood affect ‘well-being’ in adulthood through various ‘personality traits’, and analyzed this using structural equation modeling. Methods A total of 402 adult volunteers from the community provided responses to the following questionnaires: 1) Parental Bonding Instrument, 2) Temperament and Character Inventory, and 3) The Subjective Well-being Inventory. Two structural equation models were designed and the maximum likelihood estimation method was used for covariance structure analysis. Results Parental care in childhood directly increased well-being in adulthood and indirectly increased it through personality traits (harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-directedness). Parental overprotection in childhood had no direct effect on well-being in adulthood but decreased well-being in adulthood indirectly through personality traits (harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-directedness) and increased it through one personality trait (self-transcendence). Conclusions This study showed that the influences of perceived parental bonding on well-being in adulthood are mediated by self-directedness, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-transcendence among the seven personality dimensions evaluated by the Temperament and Character Inventory.

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Distributions by Age and Sex of the Dimensions of Temperament and Character Inventory in a Cross-Cultural Perspective among Sweden, Germany, and the USA

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.2001.89.3.747 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 89 (3) ◽

pp. 747-758 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

Sven Brändström ◽

Jörg Richter ◽

Tom Przybeck

Keyword(s):

Novelty Seeking ◽

Cultural Perspective ◽

Temperament And Character Inventory ◽

Personality Dimensions ◽

Biosocial Theory ◽

Age Cohort ◽

Character Inventory ◽

The Usa ◽

Self Transcendence ◽

Age And Sex

Distribution by age and sex of the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory were assessed cross-culturally for samples in Sweden, Germany, and the USA. The Temperament and Character Inventory is a 240-item (Sweden, 238-item), self-administered, true-false format, paper-and-pencil test developed by Cloninger and his coworkers based on his unified biosocial theory of personality. The inventory measures the Temperament dimensions Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, and Persistence as well as the Character dimensions, Self-directedness, Cooperativeness, and Self-transcendence. The samples consisted of 300 German subjects, 300 Swedish subjects, and 300 U.S. subjects matched by age cohort and sex. Stability of the personality dimensions was evaluated across samples as were their age and sex distributions. We found significant effects of age, sex, and culture in univeriate and multivariate comparisons on the personality dimensions. However, several significant differences in the personality dimensions for both European samples appear to be similar compared with those of the U.S. sample. We have to conclude that sex- and age-specific norms for the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory are necessary given the established significant differences.

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An Iranian (Farsi) Version of the Temperament and Character Inventory: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.100.4.1218-1228 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 100 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1218-1228

Author(s):

Jörg Richter ◽

Sven Brändström ◽

Habib Emami ◽

Mehdi Ghazinour

Keyword(s):

Cultural Differences ◽

Novelty Seeking ◽

Temperament And Character Inventory ◽

Cross Cultural Comparison ◽

Rotation Method ◽

Iranian Version ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Personality Facets ◽

Self Transcendence ◽

Farsi Version

The Temperament and Character Inventory is a widely used personality questionnaire. It was developed to measure the four temperament dimensions of Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, and Persistence, as well as three character dimensions, such as Self-directedness, Cooperativeness, and Self-transcendence, described in Cloninger's unified biosocial theory of personality. In a sample of 300 Germans, 300 Swedes, and 316 Iranian subjects, a factorial structure analysis using the Procrustes rotation method showed the structure of personality to be generally equivalent across cultures. Noteworthy cultural differences between the overall Asian and European subjects reflected by the data were observed in various Temperament and Character dimensions. Seemingly, there are cultural differences in the expression of the various personality facets that require a replacement of many items in the Iranian version. The Temperament and Character Inventory is sensitive to age, sex, and cultural differences in personality.

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Personality Traits as Markers of Psychosis Risk in Kenya: Assessment of Temperament and Character

Schizophrenia Bulletin Open ◽

10.1093/schizbullopen/sgaa051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Mamah ◽

C Robert Cloninger ◽

Victoria N Mutiso ◽

Isaiah Gitonga ◽

Albert Tele ◽

...

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Novelty Seeking ◽

Psychosis Risk ◽

Character Inventory ◽

Self Transcendence ◽

Student’S T ◽

Relationship Of

Abstract Specific personality traits have been proposed as a schizophrenia-related endophenotype and confirmed in siblings at risk for psychosis. The relationship of temperament and character with psychosis has not been previously investigated in Africa. The study was conducted in Kenya, and involved participants at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (n = 268) and controls (n = 251), aged 15–25 years. CHR status was estimated using the Structured Interview of Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS) and the Washington Early Psychosis Center Affectivity and Psychosis (WERCAP) Screen. Student’s t-tests were used to assess group differences on the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Neurocognitive functioning, stress severity, and substance use were correlated with the TCI, correcting for psychosis severity. CHR participants were more impulsive (ie, higher novelty seeking [NS]) and asocial (ie, lower reward dependence) than controls. They were also more schizotypal (ie, high self-transcendence [ST] and lower self-directedness [SD] and cooperativeness [CO] than controls). CO was related to logical reasoning, abstraction, and verbal memory. Stress severity correlated with high HA and schizotypal character traits. Lifetime tobacco use was related to NS, and lifetime marijuana use to high NS, low SD and high ST. Temperament and character of Kenyan CHR youth is similar to that observed in schizophrenia. Psychosis risk in Kenya is associated with impulsive, asocial, and schizotypal traits. CHR adolescents and young adults with schizophrenia-specific personality traits may be most at risk for developing a psychotic disorder and to require early intervention to improve outcomes.

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