Impulsivity in an Epidemiological Catchment Area Sample of the General Population: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (Version 11a)

Abstract

Impulsivity is associated with aggression and major mental disorders. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) is arguably the most commonly administered self-report measure of impulsiveness. However, some confusion surrounding the versions of the BIS—in particular version 11a—can be seen in the extant literature, especially regarding differences in item content and factor structures. Furthermore, no study has validated the factor structure of the BIS-11a. Thus, our study aimed to support the BIS-11a's internal validity based on Barratt's (1994) original factor model. Data was collected through the southwest Montreal psychiatric epidemiological catchment area study (Caron, Fleury et al., 2012). Randomly selected participants completed the English (n = 703) or French (n = 1,450) BIS-11a. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that Barratt's factor structure fit both language versions almost identically well. However, results suggest that a higher order factor structure might be optimal. This marks the first study to explore the BIS-11a's psychometric properties with a large general population sample, using both English and French versions of the scale. This is also the first study to bring to light that certain versions of the BIS, and their respective properties, are being misreported. As such, we hope to clarify the distinctions between the various versions for future research.

Keywords:

• impulsivity
• BIS-11a
• psychometrics
• epidemiological sample
• confirmatory factor analysis
• general population

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

FUNDING

This research was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR CTP-79839 to Dr. Jean Caron). Kerry Weinstein was supported through a Master's fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and an award from the CIHR Team in Social and Psychiatry Epidemiology. Andrea Reyes was also supported by an award from the CIHR Team in Social and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Dr. Anne G. Crocker acknowledges the support of the CIHR, through a New Investigator Award while working on this manuscript.