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The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) has been developed for the assessment of the personality in individuals 6 to 14 years old according to the psychobiological model of Cloninger. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of an Italian version of JTCI. The sample included 459 subjects ranging in age from 6 to 15.9 years. Starting from the original parent version, an Italian version of JTCI was developed and administered to parents recruited in primary schools of Lazio and Campania. Using statistically appropriate methods for the analysis of dichotomous variables (binary coded), we analyzed the factor structure, the internal consistency, and the test-retest reliability. The architecture of the JTCI was consistent with the original hypothesis of the Cloninger model. Parent reports of each of the JTCI dimensions had good internal consistency and test-retest reliability over 3 months. Regarding the analysis of risk personality traits, significant correlations were found between several JTCI factors and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scales. The JTCI is useful in research and in clinical practice to evaluate the role of temperament and character dimensions in psychopathology., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The current study examined the relationships between academic achievement, sleep, temperament and demographic-historical data in school-age children., Methods: Teachers were asked to fill out the teacher temperament questionnaire and a form for school achievement, while mothers filled out a demographic-historical form and the sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC), a 26-item questionnaire that consisted of six factors: difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS), sleep breathing disorders (SBD), arousal disorders (DA), sleep-wake transition disorders (SWTD), disorders of excessive somnolence (DOES), sleep hyperhydrosis (SHY). From a sample of 380 school children, 264 (70%) were suitable for the analyses (141 M and 123 F aged 8-11 years, mean 9.6 years). A school achievement index (SAI) was derived, summing up four items (reading ability, reading comprehension, mathematics, executive ability) of the teacher form for school achievement., Results: SAI mean for the total sample was 11.1 (SD=2.8). A significant gender difference was found: females have higher SAI than males. The analysis of the demographic-historical form showed that only two factors appeared to affect SAI score: enuresis and the low educational level of the mother. The pattern of correlations showed that (a) the SAI was negatively related to the SDSC total score, in particular to DIMS and DOES sub-factors, and (b) the SAI was significantly and positively correlated with the temperamental traits of task-orientation and personal-social flexibility. A multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the temperamental traits task-orientation and personal-social flexibility are the most predictive factors for SAI while the mother's educational level and the SDSC total score, although they contributed significantly to the prediction of SAI, accounted for only a small portion of variance., Conclusions: Temperament and sleep are important factors influencing school achievement, and their assessment could help to identify children at risk regarding school achievement.

The assessment of temperament is usually measured by means of parental questionnaires. Since temperament questionnaires in children aged 8-12 years do not exist in Italy we planned a study to develop an Italian questionnaire. Initially we tried to adapt Hegvik et al.'s questionnaire and delivered 389 questionnaires to the mothers of children aged 8-12 years, but most of them were given back uncompleted, essentially because they often described behavior not usually observed in Italian children. Then we prepared a new, short (30 items) questionnaire which we distributed to 431 mothers of children aged 8-12 years. This new questionnaire was completed by 98.76% of mothers and a high three week rating-re-rating reliability for the different temperamental characteristics under assessment was proved. We believe that this new questionnaire is reliable for temperament assessment in Italian children aged 8 to 12 years, living in a big city environment in Central Italy.