Application of the seven-factor-model of personality to an italian preschool sample.
OBJECTIVE
Advances in dimensional assessment of children in healthy and clinical populations has renewed interest in the study of temperament. Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) has shown high reliability and internal consistency. Adult and adolescent versions have been translated into a number of languages and validated in cross-cultural studies worldwide. To date only one preschool-TCI-based study has been conducted in early infancy with teachers as observers. The present study is aimed to test an Italian Preschool version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (PsTCI). This is the first replication and the first validation study of TCI on preschoolers with parents as observers.


METHODS
395 preschool children, recruited from pediatric communities and day-care centres throughout Italy, participated in the study. Parents of each child enrolled in the study and completed a PsTCI about the child. Standard psychometric tests of reliability and validation were performed.


RESULTS
Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated the presence of distinct domains for temperament and character. TCI dimensions had good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha ranging values (|0.60|-|0.81|). Gender differences were found for Harm Avoidance (β=-0.186; p≤0.001) and Self-Directedness (β=-0.216; p≤0.01), and accounted for 5-35arm-38-702- of the observed variance.


CONCLUSIONS
The present work suggests the psychological complexity of Cloninger's model and confirms its application in pre-school children from diverse environmental and cultural backgrounds. The results confirm that Cloninger's instrument for temperament and character evaluations can also be used with different observers and highlight the importance of considering cultural and demographic differences in the assessment of temperament and character in preschoolers.
Asl RM A Rome, Italy.
Maria Grazia
MG
Melegari
ASL RM B Rome, Italy.
Margherita
M
Innocenzi
Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito (AQ), Italy.
Assunta
A
Marano
Private Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapist, Rome, Italy.
Loredana
L
De Rosa
Asl RM B, Sandro Pertini Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Renato
R
Donfrancesco
Center for Well Being, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.
Sandor
S
Rozsa
Director, Center for Well Being, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.
C Robert
CR
Cloninger
Italian PsTCI; Preschoolers; Temperament and Character Inventory