Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Kraepelin introduced four affective temperaments: depression, mania, irritability, and cyclothymia. Subsequently, Akiskal et al. in Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego operationalized the affective temperaments by developing a semi-structured interview (TEMPS-I) that emphasized the four Kraepelinian temperaments. In 1998, the generalized anxious temperament was introduced as an additional dimension. Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) was developed in 2005 and enriched with the addition of anxious temperament.
Affective temperaments have been suggested as subclinical trait manifestations of mood disorders and potential contributors to the bipolar spectrum. They reflect an increased predisposition for developing affective disorders. Some investigators also demonstrated an association between affective temperaments and personality disorders, such as borderline, narcissistic, histrionic, and avoidant disorders. 
To date, the TEMPS-A has been translated into more than 25 languages and validated accordingly. Previous studies indicated that shortened forms of the questionnaire could be used with the same validity and reliability as the original version. The primary objective of the present study was to validate a brief Persian version of the instrument. Based on the experience of other researchers, we decided to develop a short form that contained a maximum of eight questions for each subscale. In addition, we also aimed to estimate the relative prevalence of each temperament in the general population of Iran.
2. Method
The study sample consisted of 694 clinically well students from Shahid Bahonar University in Kerman, Iran. The cohort comprised of 42.9% (298) males and 57.1% (396) females. The mean(SD) of the female students was 23.04(2.61) years, while that of the males was 23.37(2.46) years. The participants were from various cities of origin, although 70% originated from two southeastern provinces of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchestan. After translation and back-translation, the Persian translation of the 110-item TEMPS-A was provided to the participants. 
The subscales of the Persian TEMPS-A were derived by exploratory factor analysis using the principal component method and varimax rotation. A forced five-factor solution was applied. A maximum number of eight items were utilized in each subscale. To maximize the discriminative power, the items were assigned to factors only if they exhibited a loading >0.34 on specific factors and loading <0.28 on any other factor. Items that loaded well only on a subscale other than the original were assigned to a new subscale if the meaning carried by the items could be reasonably associated with the initial subscale.
The internal consistency of each subscale of the short Persian version was examined using coefficient α. For each subscale, a score of 100 was divided equally among the items. The correlation between the subscales of the brief Persian TEMPS-A was investigated via Pearson’s correlations. The differences in the subscales between genders were assessed using the Mann–Whitney U test. Also, the Pearson’s correlations among the subscales of the short Persian version and their counterparts in the 110-item Persian translation were measured. 
3. Results
The five-factor solution was applied for exploratory factor analysis (principal-component method and varimax rotation). The composition of the subscales of the brief Persian version of TEMPS-A contained the following items for the specific temperaments: (1) 65, 67, 76, 78, 80, and 93 for irritability, (2) 64, 66, 94, 96, 101, and 107 for anxiety, (3) items 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13, 28, and 32 for dysthymia, (4) 25, 27, 39, 40, 55, 57, and 70 for cyclothymia, and (5) 43, 44, 45, 47, 58, 59, 60, and 62 for hyperthymia. The internal consistency of the factors was acceptable. The subscales of the five temperaments showed Cronbach’s alpha as 0.63, 0.63, 0.66, 0.6, and 0.6, respectively.
The anxiety temperament factor was significantly related to both the dysthymia and irritability subscales, as evidenced by 0.40 coefficient of correlation. Irritable and dysthymic factors showed a significant correlation coefficient of 0.25 with each other. Hyperthymic temperament exhibited a negative and significant correlation coefficient of -0.09 with both dysthymic and anxious factors. Cyclothymic factor demonstrated the lowest correlation coefficients that were nonsignificant. 
Moreover, male subjects had significantly high scores on the cyclothymic factor, whereas the female subjects represented significantly high scores on the dysthymia, anxiety, and irritability subscales of the brief Persian TEMPS-A. The Pearson coefficients of correlation between the subscales of the short Persian version and similar subscales from the Persian translation of the 110-item TEMPS-A were 0.76, 0.48, 0.67, 0.78, and 0.74 for the dysthymic, cyclothymic, anxious, hyperthymic, and irritable temperaments, respectively (P<0.01 level, two-tailed).
4. Discussion
The brief Persian version of the TEMPS-A showed acceptable validity and reliability for future local research. An adequate level of correlation between the factors of the Persian version and their counterparts in the original version was established. Similar to most of the other studies, the current research found low negative correlations between the hyperthymic temperament and both the dysthymic and anxious temperaments. In the current study, the strongest correlations were shown by anxious-dysthymic and anxious-irritable pairs of temperaments, followed by that between the irritable and dysthymic temperaments. In contrast to the present analysis, a majority of the previous studies found high correlations between the cyclothymic temperament and the anxious, dysthymic, and irritable temperaments. 
Despite some minor differences with other international studies, the results of the current study cohered with the theoretical considerations and empirical evidence in most aspects. Five factors, including the original version of the questionnaire, were confirmed and found to be adequately correlated with the counterpart subscales from the original version. We found that the scale was a psychometrically sound instrument for investigating affective temperaments through epidemiological and genetic studies in Iran. However, assessment of the psychometric properties of the scale based on the clinical samples is required to enhance the replicability of such explorations in clinical practice.
Acknowledgments
This paper was financially supported by Kerman Neuroscience Research Center. We would like to thank Dr. Shahrokh S. Gudarzi for translation and back-translation process.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

 

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