RESEARCH ARTICLE


How Stable are Temperaments in the Clinical Setting: A Pilot Study



Elie G. Karama, b, *, Elaine El Khourya, Lynn Itania
a Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy & Applied Care (IDRAAC), Beirut, Lebanon
b Department of Psychiatry & Clinical Psychology, St. George Hospital University Medical Center, Balamand University, Faculty of Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
4
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 646
Abstract HTML Views: 484
PDF Downloads: 204
ePub Downloads: 187
Total Views/Downloads: 1521
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 397
Abstract HTML Views: 333
PDF Downloads: 151
ePub Downloads: 158
Total Views/Downloads: 1039



Creative Commons License
© Karam et al.; Licensee Bentham Open

open-access license: This is an open access articles licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the IDRAAC (Institute for Development Research, Advocacy, & Applied Care), Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, St. George Hospital University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Balamand University, P.O. Box: 166227 Ashrafieh, Beirut 1100 2110, Lebanon; Tel: + (961) 1 583583; Fax: + (961) 1 587190; E-mail: egkaram@idraac.org


Abstract

Background:

An essential point in evaluating the utility of measuring temperaments is the stability of the instrument used especially in the presence of mental disorders. One of the most commonly used instruments in the clinical setting is the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A). To our knowledge, the TEMPS-A’s stability in an outpatient adult clinical setting has not been evaluated.

Objective:

To assess the stability of the effect of temperament, time and clinical intervention.

Methods:

A sample of 89 adult outpatients was assessed at baseline and follow-up on their TEMPS-A scores. Diagnoses of mental disorders were reached through clinical interviews, and the severity of the conditions was clinically assessed at baseline and follow-up on a Likert scale. Changes in scores were examined in terms of z-scores, and possible predictors of the change in scores were assessed.

Results:

Eighty-nine percent of all subjects’ temperaments scores did not change or changed less than one z-score, and specifically: 84.2% in the case of depressive, 89.9% for cyclothymic, 92.1% for hyperthymic, 92.2% for irritable, and 86.5% for anxious temperaments. For all of the five temperaments, age, gender, time difference between baseline and follow up, number of diagnoses, and percent improvement were not significantly associated with the change in temperament scores.

Limitations:

Well-established severity measures would add to the validity of any future findings.

Conclusion:

Shifts in temperament scores between baseline and follow-up were minor, thus proving the stability of temperaments and the TEMPS-A scale in a clinical setting.

Keywords: Anxious, Cyclothymic, Dysthymic, Hyperthymic, Irritable, Temps A.