Temperament Dimensions (temperament + dimension)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Temperament and character personality dimensions in patients with dental anxiety

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 2 2003
Maud Bergdahl
The aim of the present study was to investigate character and temperament dimensions of personality in six men and 31 women (aged 20,57 yr) with severe dental anxiety, and to evaluate whether these dimensions were associated with the level of dental anxiety. The Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were used. High ratings in novelty seeking and female gender predicted high DAS scores. Compared with controls, the patients scored significantly higher on the temperament dimension, novelty seeking. For character dimensions, the patients scored lower on cooperativeness and higher on self-transcendence than controls. Our results indicated that patients with dental anxiety are neurotic extravert (i.e. novelty seekers who experience brief dissociative periods and magical thinking). Furthermore, the combination of the inherited temperament dimension novelty seeking and the social learned character dimension cooperativeness and self-transcendence seem to form a vulnerable personality to develop dental anxiety. [source]


The temperament of pre-term, low birth weight infants and its potential biological substrates

RESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH, Issue 6 2004
Sandra J. Weiss
Abstract Temperament profiles of pre-term, low birth weight (LBW) infants were assessed at 6 months of age using standardized norms from the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ). The contributions of perinatal risk, ethnicity, and gender to various temperament dimensions were examined. The sample included 152 infants with a mean birth weight of 1687 g and a mean gestational age of 31 weeks. Eighty percent of the infants were classified as having temperaments that were difficult to manage. Irregularity of the infants' biorhythms, slowness in their ability to adapt to changes, and distractibility were the most problematic. Birth weight, gestational age, and gender were not associated with temperament. Perinatal morbidity was related to the temperament dimension of infant persistence, with implications for the infant's attention span and task performance. Euro American infants were rated as more persistent and less intense in emotional expression than were infants of other ethnic groups. Results suggest the need for a more direct assessment of the effects of neurobiological processes on development of temperament phenotypes and for measurement of temperament that is socioculturally appropriate. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 27:392,402, 2004 [source]


No allelic association between harm avoidance and the debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase gene

ACTA NEUROPSYCHIATRICA, Issue 5 2002
Adriaan H Veefkind
Background: Several reports suggest that variance in personality traits is inherited, but little is known about the genes responsible. It has been suggested that there is a relationship between personality characteristics and the gene responsible for the activity of the enzyme debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase (CYP2D6). Objective: To examine the proportion of poor metabolizers in a group of personality disordered patients. Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 23 patients with a high or very high score on the dimension ,harm avoidance' of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The samples were genotyped for the null alleles CYP2D6*3 and*4 by performing an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. Results: The frequencies of genotypes in the sample were very similar to the frequencies found in a general white population. Conclusions: The investigation produced no support for the idea that the CYP2D6 gene is related to personality by means of variations in the temperament dimension of harm avoidance. [source]


Temperament and character personality dimensions in patients with dental anxiety

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 2 2003
Maud Bergdahl
The aim of the present study was to investigate character and temperament dimensions of personality in six men and 31 women (aged 20,57 yr) with severe dental anxiety, and to evaluate whether these dimensions were associated with the level of dental anxiety. The Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were used. High ratings in novelty seeking and female gender predicted high DAS scores. Compared with controls, the patients scored significantly higher on the temperament dimension, novelty seeking. For character dimensions, the patients scored lower on cooperativeness and higher on self-transcendence than controls. Our results indicated that patients with dental anxiety are neurotic extravert (i.e. novelty seekers who experience brief dissociative periods and magical thinking). Furthermore, the combination of the inherited temperament dimension novelty seeking and the social learned character dimension cooperativeness and self-transcendence seem to form a vulnerable personality to develop dental anxiety. [source]


Cloninger's temperament dimensions and epidermal growth factor A61G polymorphism in Finnish adults

GENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2006
L. Keltikangas-Järvinen
This study examines a link between human temperament and epidermal growth factor (EGF). There is evidence that dopaminergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system has a role in temperament, especially in novelty seeking. Functional polymorphism in EGF gene has an impact on EGF production, and EGF, in turn, appears to affect the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Epidermal growth factor gene A61G polymorphisms were studied in a randomly selected sample of 292 Finnish adults. Their temperaments were assessed twice (with a 4-year test,retest interval) with Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory consisting of four dimensions, i.e. novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD) and persistence (P). The findings on men showed a significant association between a presence of the G/G polymorphism and scoring in the highest tertile on NS in both test and retest. The same was true with men who scored high on RD, especially on sensitivity, in both tests. Among women, G/G polymorphism was associated with a stable high level of P. Importantly, temperament dimensions, as assessed with one test only, did not provide replicable associations with EGF polymorphism across the two measurements. Our results demonstrate the importance of reliable phenotype assessment and lend support to the hypothesis that dopaminergic activity is one factor underlying stable temperament. [source]


The temperament of pre-term, low birth weight infants and its potential biological substrates

RESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH, Issue 6 2004
Sandra J. Weiss
Abstract Temperament profiles of pre-term, low birth weight (LBW) infants were assessed at 6 months of age using standardized norms from the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ). The contributions of perinatal risk, ethnicity, and gender to various temperament dimensions were examined. The sample included 152 infants with a mean birth weight of 1687 g and a mean gestational age of 31 weeks. Eighty percent of the infants were classified as having temperaments that were difficult to manage. Irregularity of the infants' biorhythms, slowness in their ability to adapt to changes, and distractibility were the most problematic. Birth weight, gestational age, and gender were not associated with temperament. Perinatal morbidity was related to the temperament dimension of infant persistence, with implications for the infant's attention span and task performance. Euro American infants were rated as more persistent and less intense in emotional expression than were infants of other ethnic groups. Results suggest the need for a more direct assessment of the effects of neurobiological processes on development of temperament phenotypes and for measurement of temperament that is socioculturally appropriate. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 27:392,402, 2004 [source]


Pre-adolescent gender differences in associations between temperament, coping, and mood

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2010
Gerly M. De Boo
Abstract Relationships between temperament, coping, depressive and aggressive mood in 8,12-year-old boys (n = 185) and girls (n = 219) were investigated, with a focus on gender differences. Children completed two self-report questionnaires: the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised and Children's Coping Strategies Checklist-Revised1. Comparing boys and girls on three temperament dimensions, positive affectivity, negative affectivity and effortful control, girls scored higher than boys on the first two dimensions. Girls also scored higher than boys on avoidant coping and depressive mood. For both boys and girls, aggressive and depressive mood were predicted by negative affectivity. Coping did not add towards this prediction. Gender specific models of temperament, coping and depressive mood were tested. For girls, both effortful control and active problem solving, accounted for the variability in depressive mood. For boys, only effortful control accounted for variance in depressive mood. Results showed that gender specific vulnerability to depression in girls is apparent before adolescence and can be linked to temperament and coping. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Pre-adolescent girls are more vulnerable to depression than boys. Interventions focussing on self-control, emotion regulation and active coping are tailored towards vulnerabilities in temperament and coping in girls. [source]