Validation of the Impulsivity Rating Scale and relationship with anxiety in healthy French adolescents

Impulsivity is common among adolescents and adults, and can be assessed by specific or personality questionnaires. The clinical evaluation of impulsivity is not easy. The authors report the psychometric characteristics of a recently developed specific seven-item hetero-assessment instrument: the Impulsivity Rating Scale (IRS). Ninety-one 14–16-year-old non-depressed and non-anxious adolescents were interviewed in high schools. While females score higher than males, the total score is independent of Spielberger's Trait-Anxiety. The scale has a good reliability (a = 0.766), and PCA reveals a clear two-factor solution: ‘Lack of control’ and ‘Lack of planification’. There is a moderate convergent validity with the Impulsivity subscale of the EPI. The IRS is a reliable easy-to-use instrument for assessing impulsivity in our sample. Nevertheless, more work is needed to generalize these results to the adolescent population. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.