Factor Analysis of French Translation of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11)

Abstract

Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) is a 30-items instrument designed to assess the construct of impulsiveness. It's one of the most commonly used scale for the assessment of this construct in research and clinical settings. Although its use is widely spread, there have been numerous questions about the invariance of the factor structure across different populations. This study explored the factor structure of the 22-items of the BIS-11 in a sample of 546 university students in a French Canadian university. The BIS-11 is held to measure 3 theoretical factors (Attentional, Motor and Non-planning Impulsiveness). We evaluated the factor structure of the BIS-11 using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. We found no evidence to support the 3 factor model. In fact, we found that the factor structure of the BIS-11 produces a 22 items in 5 factors solution: motor impulsiveness, cognitive complexity impulsiveness, non planning impulsiveness, financial management impulsiveness, and attentional impulsiveness. The utility of the 30-items BIS-11 to assess impulsiveness in non-clinical population is questionable. The authors suggest future studies to investigate comparisons with this modified version of the BIS-11 and other impulsivity or personality scales in non-clinical populations to evaluate criterion validity of this new 22-items model.

Food Addiction as a Proxy for Anorexia Nervosa Severity: New Data Based on the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0

“…The higher the BIS-11 total score, the higher the impulsiveness level. Its French version also has good validity (Gélinas et al, 2015). In our sample, Cronbach's alpha was 0.676.…”

Perceived Self-Regulatory Success in Dieting and Its Correlates Among Women With Food Addiction

“…The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11 (BIS-11) consists of 30 items assessing 3 impulsivity dimensions: cognitive (8 items, Cronbach alpha: .64), motor (11 items, Cronbach alpha: .65) and non-planning (11 items, Cronbach alpha: .65) (Balbinotti et al, 2015;Barratt, 1959). For each item, participants filled out a 4-points Likert scale scored from "almost never/never" to "almost always/always".…”