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Barratt Impulsiveness Scale

Barratt Impulsiveness Scale

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Purpose

A 30-item self-report instrument designed to assess impulsiveness.

Acronym BIS-11

Area of Assessment

Behavior
Cognition
Mental Health

Assessment Type

Patient Reported Outcomes

Administration Mode

Paper & Pencil

Cost

Free

Actual Cost

$0.00

Cost Description

N/A

CDE Status

Not a CDE--last searched 9/13/2023.

Key Descriptions

  • The BIS-11 is a 30-item self-report measure.
  • Items are scored on a 4-point Likert scale from 1 (rarely/never) to 4 (almost always).
  • Items are summed, and total scores represent total levels of impulsivity. Scores range from 30 to 120, with higher scores indicating higher levels of impulsivity.

Number of Items

30

Equipment Required

  • None

Time to Administer

10-15 minutes

Required Training

No Training

Required Training Description

No Training

Age Ranges

Adult

18 - 64

years

Instrument Reviewers

Tracy Tittelbach, B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kayla Walton, B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Marcus Weathers Jr., B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tim Tansey, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kevin Fearn, M.S., Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

ICF Domain

Activity

Measurement Domain

Cognition

Professional Association Recommendation

None found--last searched 9/13/2023.

Considerations

  • The BIS-11 has many items that need to be reverse-scored.
  • Additional versions of the BIS-11 have been created
    • Barratt Impulsiveness Scale for early adolescents (BIS-11-A)
    • Brief Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BBIS)

Mixed Populations

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Normative Data

Mixed Populations: (Patten et al., 1995; undergraduate students (n = 412, 68% female), substance abuse patients (n = 164, 33% female), general psychiatric patients (n = 84, 54% female), and male prison inmates (n = 73)

Mean and Standard Deviation for the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Total Score by subject group and sex

Subject group

Male M (SD)

Female M (SD)

Total M (SD)

Baylor undergraduates

64.94d (10.19)

63.32b,c (10.16)

63.82b,c (10.17)

Substance-abuse patients

69.00d (10.21)

69.78a (10.51)

69.26a (10.28)

General psychiatric patients

69.74d (11.54)

72.78a (13.43)

71.37a (12.61)

Prison inmates

76.30a,b,c (11.86)

 

 

aDiffers significantly from Baylor Undergraduates (p < 0.05).

bDiffers significantly from Substance Abuse Patients (p < 0.05). 

cDiffers significantly from General Psychiatry Patients (p < 0.05).

dDiffers significantly from Prison Inmates (p < 0.05).

Internal Consistency

Undergraduate students: (Patton et al., 1995; n = 412; 68% female)

  • Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .82

Patients with Substance Use Disorder: (Patton et al., 1995; N = 164; 33% female)

  • Adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .79)

General psychiatric patients: (Patton et al., 1995; n = 84; 54% female; 49% mood disorders, 23% adjustment disorders, 14% personality disorders, 8% thought disorders, 2% anxiety disorders, 4% disorders not otherwise specified)

  • Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .83)

Male prison inmates: (Patton et al., 1995; n = 73) 

  • Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .80)

Healthy Adults

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Cut-Off Scores

General Population: (Stanford et al., 2009; n = 1,577; male = 393; mean age = 21.6 (5.3) years; mean years of education = 13.2 (1.5), range = 6-23)

  • Total scores of 72 or above = highly impulsive
  • Total scores between 52 and 71 = within normal limits for impulsiveness

Normative Data

General Population: (Stanford et al., 2009)

Mean and Standard Deviation for first- and second-order sub-scales of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale by sex

Scale

Male M (SD)

Female M (SD)

Total M (SD)

Total score

62.8 (2.2)

62.1 (10.6)

62.3 (10.3)

Second-order subscales

Attentional

16.8 (3.9)

16.7 (4.1)

16.7 (4.1)

Motor

22.4 (3.4)

21.8 (4.1)

22.0 (4.0)

Non-Planning

23.6 (4.5)

23.6 (5.0)

23.6 (4.9)

First-order subscales

Attention

10.3 (2.8)

10.4 (2.9)

10.4 (2.9)

Motor

15.2 (2.8)

15.0 (3.4)

15.0 (3.2)

Self-control

12.4 (3.1)

12.0 (3.3)

12.1 (3.3)

Cognitive complexity

11.3 (2.4)

11.6 (2.6)

11.5 (2.6)

Perseverance

7.2 (1.8)

6.8 (1.7)*

6.9 (1.8)

Cognitive instability

6.4 (1.8)

6.3 (1.9)

6.4 (1.9)

*Differs significantly from males, p < 0.01

 

Healthy Adults: (Reise et al., 2013; n = 691; male = 53%; Hispanic = 43%; Education: high school = 36% (2% had less), bachelor’s degree = 52% (8% had more); data collected as part of the UCLA Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics) 

Mean and Standard Deviation for first- and second-order sub-scales of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale

Scale

Mean (SD)

Second-order subscales

Attentional

14.4 (3.5)

Motor

21.5 (4.0)

Non-Planning

23.3 (4.6)

First-Order Sub-scales

Attention

9.2 (2.4)

Motor impulsiveness

13.8 (3.1)

Self-control

11.2 (2.5)

Cognitive complexity

12.0 (3.0)

Perseverance

7.6 (1.9)

Cognitive instability

5.3 (1.7)

 

General Population: (Malloy-Diniz et al., 2015; n = 3,053 adults; mean age (SD) = 31.71 (11.85); mean total score: 61.92 (10.29);  Brazilian sample)

  • Mean score, attentional impulsivity factor: 16.81 (3.95)
  • Mean score, motor impulsivity factor: 36.36 (7.03)
  • Mean score, non-planning impulsivity factor: 25.57 (4.78)

Test/Retest Reliability

General Population: (Stanford et al., 2009; n = 153; male = 33)

  • Acceptable test-retest reliability (r = 0.83; tests administered one month apart)

 

 

Internal Consistency

General Population: (Patton et al., 1995; n = 412; undergraduate students; 68% female)

  • Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .82)

 

Construct Validity

Convergent Validity:

Persons in correctional and residential drug treatment facilities: (Ruiz et al., 2010; = 1,583; 16.9% female; all participants were over 21 years of age) 

  • Poor correlation between BIS-11 scores and scores on factor 1 of the Psychopathology Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; r = -.15)
  • Poor correlation between BIS-11 scores and scores on factor 2 of the Psychopathology Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; r = .30)
  • Adequate correlation between BIS-11 scores and the following subscales of the Personality Assessment Inventory:
    • Antisocial behaviors (r = .44)
    • Sensation-seeking (r = .47)
    • Anxiety-Cognitive (r = .47)
    • Depression-Cognitive (r = .56)

General population: (Fossati et al., 2001; = 763; undergraduate students; 64.2% female; 18.5% from Northern Italy, 49.7% from Central Italy, 27.3% from Southern Italy, 3.6% from the Islands (Sicily and Sardinia), 0.9% from areas not otherwise specified; mean age (SD) = 22.96 (2.63) years; Italian translation)

  • Adequate correlation between BIS-11 scores and scores on the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), a measure of ADHD tendencies (r = .357)

Bibliography

Fossati, A., Di Ceglie, A., Acquarini, E., & Barratt, E. S. (2001). Psychometric properties of an Italian version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale‐11 (BIS‐11) in nonclinical subjects. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(6), 815-828.

Malloy-Diniz, L. F., Paula, J. J. D., Vasconcelos, A. G., Almondes, K. M. D., Pessoa, R., Faria, L., ... & Corrêa, H. (2015). Normative data of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11 (BIS-11) for Brazilian adults. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 37(3), 245-248.

Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S., & Barratt, E. S. (1995). Factor structure of the Barratt Impulsivity Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 768-774.

 

Reise, S. P., Moore, T. M., Sabb, F. W., Brown, A. K., & London, E. D. (2013). The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale – 11: Reassessment of its structure in a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 25(2), 631-642. 

 

Ruiz, M. A., Skeem, J. L., Poythress, N. G., Douglas, K. S., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2010). Structure and correlates of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) in offenders: Implications for psychopathy and externalizing pathology. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 9(3), 237-244. 

Stanford, M. S., Mathias, C. W., Dougherty, D. M., Lake, S. L., Anderson, N. E., & Patton, J. H. (2009). Fifty years of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale: An update and review. Personality and individual differences, 47(5), 385-395.