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).

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

Conclusion: 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.