Standardization of the TEMPS-A in the Greek general population

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The current study evaluates the reliability and factor-structure replicability of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) in its Greek Version. METHODS: The TEMPS-A was administered to a convenient sample of 734 subjects from the general Greek population (436 females; 59.4% and 298 males; 40.6%). Their mean age was 40.80+/-11.48 years (range 25-67 years). The analysis included the calculation of Chronbach's alpha, the calculation of the threshold to define dominant temperaments (+2 standard deviations or 95th percentile), confirmatory factor analysis and the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients between the temperament scales scores. Analysis of Covariance with age as covariate and post-hoc t-test was used to search for differences in temperament scores between males and females. Also a table of percentile values corresponding to a raw score was created. RESULTS: Internal consistency was excellent for the various temperaments (0.72-0.88). The factor analysis confirmed the five factor solution as the best factor solution. All TEMPS items were included in the final version of the scale in the Greek language. LIMITATIONS: The study sample included subjects from the general population, but it is a convenient and not representative sample. Although the authors tried to select them on the basis of being mentally healthy and without a psychiatric history, there is always a degree of uncertainty. There is also always the possibility some of them to manifest a mental disorder in the future, thus being currently in a premorbid state. CONCLUSION: The Greek version of the TEMPS-A, has good internal consistency and factor structure similar to what was found in other translations. Overall our results are in accord with the literature and in line with theoretical considerations as well as with empirical evidence.