[Psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale]

BACKGROUND

Impulsive behavior is an important characteristic in a range of psychiatric disorders. A unanimous definition of impulsivity is still under discussion, but a questionnaire to measure it has been available for quite some time, i.e. the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Version 11 (BIS11). However, it lacks adequate psychometric characterization for German speakers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Control persons were recruited from the Munich city population. Patients with alcohol dependence, suicide attempts, and borderline personality disorders treated as inpatients at the Munich University Psychiatric Clinic were recruited.

RESULTS

Confirmatory analysis of the originally suggested factor structure did not adequately represent the data in our sample. The BIS11 sum score, which showed adequate internal consistencies in all subgroups, significantly differentiated the extent of impulsivity between patients and control persons.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of the BIS11 sum score in German-speaking regions can be recommended. This sum score shows adequate internal consistency and well differentiated the extent of impulsivity between different groups of patients with psychiatric diagnoses and control persons.

Impulsiveness in obsessive-compulsive disorder: results from a family study

OBJECTIVE

Although obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is usually conceptualized as an anxiety disorder some studies suggested it to be a deficit of impulse control. The purpose of this study was to assess impulsiveness in OCD families and compare it to control families.

METHOD

Seventy cases and their 139 relatives were compared with 70 controls and their 134 relatives from a German family study on OCD (German Epidemiologic Network for OCD Studies). All subjects were interviewed and diagnosed according DSM-IV criteria and were administered the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and PADUA-Inventory to assess obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

RESULTS

OCD subjects had significantly higher scores of cognitive impulsiveness. However, first-degree relatives of OCD cases and of controls had comparable BIS-11 scores. Significant associations of aggressive obsessions and checking with cognitive impulsiveness were found.

CONCLUSION

OCD is a severe mental disorder that is characterized by a lack of cognitive inhibition. However, impulsiveness does not represent a familial trait in families of OCD subjects.