Confirmation of the factorial structure of the Japanese short version of the TEMPS-A in psychiatric patients and general adults.
BACKGROUND
The Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A) is a 110-item questionnaire that assesses five affective temperaments. However, a valid shortened version is desired for large-scale investigations to enhance the compliance of respondents.


METHODS
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted among 320 psychiatric patients and 61 general adults. The participants completed the Japanese 39-item short version of the TEMPS-A, and a portion of the participants completed the 110-item version. An exploratory factor analysis with the principal factor method and varimax rotation was conducted to identify a more suitable model of the short version of the TEMPS-A.


RESULTS
The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 39-item version exhibited a poor model fit. However, we found that the 18-item version exhibited a firm five-factor structure based on the exploratory factor analysis, and this model exhibited an acceptable model fit. It had good or acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's αs: 0.672-0.819).


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of the subjects in the present study were patients, and the temperament data may have been affected by psychiatric symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
A firm five-factor structure was not found in the 39-item short version of the Japanese TEMPS-A. Therefore, an 18-item version was proposed. This new 18-item version of the TEMPS-A might be useful for clinical applications and large-scale investigations.
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Yasuya
Y
Nakato
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo; Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
Takeshi
T
Inoue
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Shin
S
Nakagawa
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Yuji
Y
Kitaichi
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Rie
R
Kameyama
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Yumi
Y
Wakatsuki
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Kan
K
Kitagawa
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Yuki
Y
Omiya
Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Ichiro
I
Kusumi
TEMPS-A; affective temperament; confirmatory factor analysis; depression; validation