Sören Sigvardsson

Swedish normative data on personality using the temperament and character inventory

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is a self-report personality questionnaire based on Cloningers psychobiological model of personality, which accounts for both normal and abnormal variation in the two major components of personality, temperament and character. Normative data for the Swedish TCI based on a representative Swedish sample of 1,300 adults are presented, and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire are discussed. The structure of the Swedish version replicates the American version well for the means, distribution of scores, and relationships within the between scales and subscales. Further, the Swedish inventory had a reliable factor structure and test-retest performance. The results of this study confirm the theory of temperament and character as a seven-factor model of personality.

Psychopathology in Adopted-out Children of Alcoholics The Stockholm Adoption Study

The inheritance of alcohol abuse and other psychopathology was studied in 862 men and 913 women adopted by nonrelatives at an early age in Sweden. Both male and female adoptees had a greater risk of alcohol abuse if their biologic, but not adoptive, parents were alcoholic. We distinguished two types of alcoholism that have distinct genetic and environmental causes and that differ in frequency of alcohol abuse and somatoform disorders in women. The combination of both genetic and environmental risk factors is required for development of alcoholism in the most common type. In contrast, in families with the less common type of susceptibility, alcohol abuse is highly heritable in the men, but the women have multiple somatic complaints without alcohol abuse. The implications of these findings of genetic heterogeneity and gene-environment interaction are discussed in relation to research, prevention, and treatment.

Personality antecedents of alcoholism in a national area probability sample

Kraepelin viewed alcoholism as a symptom complex caused by heritable individual differences in emotional predisposition and volitional control. Recent clinical and genetic research has distinguished subtypes of alcoholics with different personality traits, symptoms, course, mode of inheritance, and response to treatment. The heritable personality traits that influence the initiation, continuation, and severity of alcoholism were examined by interview of a national area probability sample of 1019 non-institutionalized adults across the continental United States of America. We found that harm avoidance inhibits the initiation and frequency of drinking, but increases the risk of developing problems once frequent drinking has begun. Novelty seeking increases the initiation of drinking and the probabilities of frequent and problem drinking. This supports Kraepelins description of the etiology and course of alcoholism as a symptom complex related to individual differences in emotional predisposition.

Increased cancer risk among Swedish female alcoholics.

We evaluated site-specific cancer risks in alcoholic women. We identified 15,508 alcoholic women from the records of the Temperance Boards in Sweden and obtained a comparison group by selecting for each alcoholic woman one female individual matched for region and day of birth. We obtained incidence data from the Swedish Cancer Registry. We found an increased relative risk (RR) for any cancer [RR = 1.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5–1.8]; site-specific risks were increased for tongue (RR = 8.5; 95% CI = 2.0–37), mouth (RR = 12; 95% CI = 1.6–92), tonsil (RR = 11; 95% CI = 1.4–85), hypopharynx (RR = 9.0; 95% CI = 1.1–71), larynx (RR = 7.0; 95% CI = 0.9–57), liver (RR = 4.6; 95% CI = 1.8–12), pancreas (RR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.6–4.6), lung (RR = 5.0; 95% CI = 3.3–7.5), breast (RR = L4; 95% CI = 1.2–1.7), cervix uteri (RR = 3.9; 95% CI = 2.8–5.4), and vulva, vagina, and unspecified female genital organs (RR = 4.0; 95% CI = 1.3–12). We found a decreased risk for malignant melanoma of the skin (RR = 0.5; 95% CI = 0.3–1.0). Since this was a register study, the results may be confounded by differences in smoking, dietary habits, and/or other factors in the cohort of alcoholic women and the comparison group.

The Swedish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)

In order to establish new norms of the Swedish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), data from 2,209 Swedish individuals (age between 13 and 80) was analyzed. The second aim was ...

Perceived parental rearing behaviours and temperament and character in healthy adults

Abstract In a study of 132 healthy individuals, the relationships between Temperament and Character traits (assessed by the TCI, Temperament and Character Inventory) on the one hand and perceived parental rearing (assessed by EMBU, Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran—My memories of Upbringing) on the other hand, were studied. The temperament dimensions of harm avoidance and reward dependence and the character dimension of self-directedness yielded the most frequent and highest correlations with the factors rejection, emotional warmth and overprotection. In particular rejecting rearing behaviour and lack of emotional warmth of both parents during childhood, seemed to constitute a risk factor for development of high harm avoidant behaviour (anticipatory worry, fear of uncertainty, shyness) and low self-directed behaviour (blaming others, unable to set goals and values, helplessness, lack of self-acceptance and low self-esteem). It was further found that parental emotional warmth contributed highly to the development of social sensitivity and attachment (Reward Dependence, RD) and was more pronounced in female than in male subjects.

Early life experiences and psychiatric disorders: An adoptee study

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is any correlation between negative experiences in early infancy and the later occurrence of psychiatric disorders.

Gender Differences for the Risk of Alcohol-Related Problems in Multiple National Contexts

The primary research question asked is: After holding alcohol consumption constant, will men and women be at equal risk for a variety of alcohol-related problems? Since women are actually at a higher blood alcohol content at the same consumption levels, a physiological argument would suggest that women are at equal or greater risk for alcohol problems than men. However, variation in societal norms surrounding gender roles and/or societal-level stress may mediate the experience of men and women, regardless of the differences in physiology. Ten cross-sectional general population studies are used. Analyses control for individual-level variables (age, quantity, and frequency of drinking) and societal-level variables (proportion of women in the work force and female suicide rate) that might confound these relationships; cross-study homogeneity is examined.

Reliability of Informant Ratings and Spouse Similarity Based on the Temperament and Character Inventory

A cohort of 136 Swedish spouse pairs rated themselves and each other with the Temperament and Character Inventory. The data allowed assessment of the reliability of ratings by knowledgeable informants compared to self-rating for this personality test. The reliability of the informant rating was in the expected range, with an average correlation of .58. Agreement was slightly higher for the Temperament dimensions than for the Character dimensions. Additionally, the design allowed evaluation of the similarity between husbands and wives across the seven dimensions measured by the TCI. Correlations between spouses in self-reports were very low for Temperament, with only Harm Avoidance having a statistically significant correlation (.22, p <.05). On the other hand, all three Character dimensions were significantly correlated. These results support the conceptualization of Temperament and Character as separate components of personality. The results are consistent with previous reports on the personality of spouse pairs.

The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI): Psychometric Properties of Multi-Informant Ratings.

The aims of the study were (a) to establish norms for the Swedish child self-report and caregiver rating versions of the Junior and Temperament Character Inventory (JTCI) among young adolescents, (b) to investigate its psychometric properties, and (c) to investigate congruence between children’s self-reports and caregivers’ ratings of a child’s personality. The sample was a general population of 1,046 children ages 12–14 years and 654 caregivers. The JTCI was found to be reliable on all dimensions except Persistence in the child self-report version. Caregivers rated their own children’s personalities as more mature than did the children themselves. Caregivers especially overestimated their daughters’ self-reported capabilities for self-acceptance and self-efficacy and might have underestimated their daughters’ need for emotional support. This highlights the importance of including the child’s self-report on personality in both research and clinical assessments. The results also support the importance of age- and gender-separated norms.