Assessment of Measures of Impulsivity in Healthy Male Volunteers

The current study evaluated the relationship between self-report and behavioral measures of impulsivity in 98 young adult male subjects. Principal components analysis of the self-report measures revealed four primary factors: the first demonstrated significant loadings with Eysenck’s Impulsivity and Nonplanning scales and all subscales of the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, the second with Eysenck’s Venturesome, Thrill and Adventure Seeking and Experience Seeking Scales, the third with the Boredom Susceptibility and Disinhibition subscales of Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale, and the fourth with Zuckerman’s State Sensation Seeking and the Kipnis Scale. The relationship between scores on these primary factors and performance on four behavioral measures of impulsivity, the Draw a line Slowly, Matching Familiar Figures, the Porteus Maze, and Gomo Go Discrimination tasks, was investigated. Only the fourth primary factor demonstrated a positive relationship, with errors of commission on the Go/No Go Task, and with the Q score in the Porteous Maze. The fourth factor was the only one that was independent of educational level, age and IQ. Of the behavioral tasks, the Go/No Go task is an operationalization of impulsivity as defined by Gray, Owen, Davis & Tsaltas (Biological Bases ofSensation Seeking, ImpuWiq, andilnrieg, 1983) and may not be subject to demand characteristics found in the other behavioral and paper and pencil measures of impulsivity. Increased understanding of impulsivity is needed, and the fourth factor we defined, and the Go/No Go task, may hold promise for future research on one type of impulsivity.