Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 45, Issue 1 , Pages 20-28, January 2004

Assessing personality features and their relations with behavioral problems in adolescents: tridimensional personality questionnaire and junior eysenck personality questionnaire☆

  • Po-Hsiu Kuo

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; and the Center for Disease Control, Department of Health Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Yi-Chien Chih

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; and the Center for Disease Control, Department of Health Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Wei-Tsuen Soong

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; and the Center for Disease Control, Department of Health Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Hao-Jan Yang

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; and the Center for Disease Control, Department of Health Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Wei J Chen

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; and the Center for Disease Control, Department of Health Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress reprint requests to Wei J. Chen, M.D., Sc.D., Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 1 Jen-Ai Road, Sec. 1, Taipei 100, Taiwan

Abstract 

This study examines the applicability for adolescents of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which was originally designed for adults, as compared to the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ). The study also evaluates their inter-relationship and associations with various behavioral problems as reported by parents using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). In a representative community sample of 905 adolescents, the results of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and factor analysis showed that both the Harm Avoidance (HA) and the Novelty Seeking (NS) scales of the TPQ have sound construct validity, although the Reward Dependence (RD) scale has less so. The intercorrelation and factor analysis of the two questionnaires showed that the TPQ and the JEPQ are not simply alternative descriptions of the same construct of personality. In their associations with various behavioral problems, the scales of the TPQ are relatively more specifically associated with behavioral problems than the scales of the JEPQ. Our results provide empirical support for the applicability of the NS and the HA scales of the TPQ in adolescents, particularly in relation to behavioral problems.

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☆ Supported by grants from the National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC86-2314-B002-328, NSC87-2314-B002-290, NSC88-2314-B002-247, and NSC89-2320-B002-106).

PII: S0010-440X(03)00173-1

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2003.09.011

Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 45, Issue 1 , Pages 20-28, January 2004

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