Application of the seven-factor model of personality to early childhood

Constantino, John N; Cloninger, C.Robert; Clarke, Adrian R; Hashemi, Bahar; Przybeck, Thomas

Next »Psychiatry Research
Volume 109, Issue 3 , Pages 229-243, 15 April 2002

Application of the seven-factor model of personality to early childhood

John N Constantino
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8134, 660 South Euclid Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-314-747-6772; fax: +1-314-747-6777
C.Robert Cloninger
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8134, 660 South Euclid Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
Adrian R Clarke
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8134, 660 South Euclid Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
Bahar Hashemi
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8134, 660 South Euclid Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
Thomas Przybeck
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8134, 660 South Euclid Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA

Received 17 May 2001; received in revised form 2 January 2002; accepted 16 January 2002.

Abstract

The seven-factor model of personality developed by Cloninger and colleagues describes personality as a function of developmental aspects of character superimposed on heritable dimensions of temperament. The objective of this study was to determine whether this model could be applied to early childhood. We tested a preschool version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (the preschool TCI) in 305 children aged 2–5 years. Exploratory factor analysis provided support for the presence of distinct domains of temperament (comprising four factors) and character (comprising three factors). The preschool TCI demonstrated high internal consistency for each of the seven factors (Cronbach's α values: 0.70–0.93). Inter-individual differences in novelty seeking, reward dependence and cooperativeness were highly preserved (Pearson's r values 0.75, 0.64 and 0.80, respectively) in 29 subjects who were studied over a 3-year period from toddlerhood to early school age. Future studies are warranted to test the extent to which early childhood measurements of the seven factors might predict the development of personality disorders.

Keywords: Temperament, Character, Personality, Preschoolers, Assessment, psTCI