A reanalysis of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and its relation to Cloninger's Type 2 alcoholism

The factor structure and external validity of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) were examined in a sample of 303 male alcoholics in an inpatient treatment program. Confirmatory factor analyses did not support either the original tridimensional structure or the factor structures obtained in a nonclinical sample by Cloninger, Przybeck, and Svrakic (1991). An exploratory factor analysis suggested the TPQ comprises 5 factors: Subjective Distress, Detachment, Disinhibition, Relaxed Confidence, and Orderliness/Persistence. Each of the original scales was round to be multidimensional in terms of the 5 factors. The Novelty Seeking (NS) scale included most of the items of the Disinhibition factor scale, and the construct validity of both scales was supported by correlations with external measures of antisocial behavior and a measure of Cloninger 's Type 2 alcoholism