Psychometric properties of an Italian version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) in nonclinical subjects

To assess the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), the scale was administered to 763 college undergraduates. Based on analyses using item-total correlations and t-tests for differences between the top and the bottom total score quartiles, all items from the English version of the BIS-11 were retained in the Italian version. Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was.79 and two-month test-retest reliability was.89. An exploratory principal-components analysis replicated the six first-order factors and three oblique second-order factors, consistent with the number identified in the English version. However, subfactor item loadings differed between the English and Italian versions. The overall item pool was consistent in being a homogeneous measure of impulsiveness. The BIS-11 total score was correlated significantly with aggression and ADHD measures. The BIS-11 also significantly differentiated between high and low levels of binge eating, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking.     

Barratt冲动量表中文版用于中学生的信度、效度分析

目的:分析和探索Barratt冲动量表(BIS-11)的信度和效度。方法:对396名高中学生进行Barratt冲动量表测查,并间隔一个月进行重测,对获取的数据进行相关分析和因素分析。结果:BIS-11量表内部一致性系数为0.80;重测信度0.81;与RBQ-A(青少年危险行为问卷)、RAPI(酒精使用问卷)冲动危险因子显著相关;验证性因素分析(CFA)显示此样本两个二阶因子拟合程度较好。结论:BIS-11是一个比较好的评估冲动行为的工具。     

海洛因依赖者冲动特征及性别差异的比较分析

目的:了解海洛因依赖者冲动特征及性别差异,为临床干预个体化治疗提供有价值的信息。方法:采用Bar-ratt冲动量表(Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version,BIS-11)对128例健康人群和543例康复期海洛因依赖者进行问卷调查。结果:海洛因依赖者的冲动水平显著高于正常对照组;女性冲动水平显著高于男性。结论:海洛因依赖者具有较高的冲动特征,女性海洛因依赖者冲动水平更高,临床干预措施应考虑到冲动特征及性别差异以提高干预效果。     

Intrinsic Network Connectivity Patterns Underlying Specific Dimensions of Impulsiveness in Healthy Young Adults

Impulsiveness is a central human personality trait and of high relevance for the development of several mental disorders. Impulsiveness is a multidimensional construct, yet little is known about dimension-specific neural correlates. Here, we address the question whether motor, attentional and non-planning components, as measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), are associated with distinct or overlapping neural network activity. In this study, we investigated brain activity at rest and its relationship to distinct dimensions of impulsiveness in 30 healthy young adults (m/f?=?13/17; age mean/SD?=?26.4/2.6 years) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3T. A spatial independent component analysis and a multivariate model selection strategy were used to identify systems loading on distinct impulsivity domains. We first identified eight networks for which we had a-priori hypotheses. These networks included basal ganglia, cortical motor, cingulate and lateral prefrontal systems. From the eight networks, three were associated with impulsiveness measures (p?<?0.05, FDR corrected). There were significant relationships between right frontoparietal network function and all three BIS domains. Striatal and midcingulate network activity was associated with motor impulsiveness only. Within the networks regionally confined effects of age and gender were found. These data suggest distinct and overlapping patterns of neural activity underlying specific dimensions of impulsiveness. Motor impulsiveness appears to be specifically related to striatal and midcingulate network activity, in contrast to a domain-unspecific right frontoparietal system. Effects of age and gender have to be considered in young healthy samples.     

Barratt冲动性量表中文修订版在社区和大学人群中应用的信效度

目的:检验Barratt冲动性量表(BIS-11)中文修订版在社区和大学人群中应用的信效度。方法:多阶段分层随机抽取山东农村居民603例、天津城市居民548例、重庆大学学生627例(均≥18岁),用BIS中文修订版进行调查。将具有初中或以上学历的社区受试(署名)随机分为两组:自己独立填写问卷(自评)和由调查员提问并填写问卷;大学调查均为自评,但分署名和匿名两种形式,来探索不同评估方式对问卷的影响。在初测后5～8天对完成初测的504例农村受试、252例城市受试和307例大学学生进行了重测。结果:BIS中文版包含30个条目,其总量表和3个分量表(非计划性、行动冲动性和认知冲动性)的内部一致性Cronbachα在0.77～0.89之间,重测信度ICC在0.68～0.89之间。自评或由调查员提问并填写、署名或匿名者之间BIS中文版得分差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05)。农村、城市和学生之间BIS中文版得分差异有统计学意义,农村受试的冲动性得分最低,学生受试的冲动性得分最高(P<0.05)。结论:修订后的Barratt冲动性量表中文版的信效度良好,可以应用于国内的研究和临床工作中。     

精神分裂症男性患者攻击行为与冲动相关性

目的:探讨冲动与精神分裂症男性患者攻击行为的相关性.方法:以既往史和外显攻击行为量表(Modified Overt Aggression Scale,MOAS)评分区分攻击组(30例)与非攻击组(30例),比较2组患者的一般人口学资料、一般临床资料、Barratt冲动量表(Barratt Impulsiveness S...     

Improving the accuracy of suicide attempter classification

Objective

Psychometrical questionnaires such as the Barrat’s impulsiveness scale version 11 (BIS-11) have been used in the assessment of suicidal behavior. Traditionally, BIS-11 items have been considered as equally valuable but this might not be true. The main objective of this article is to test the discriminative ability of the BIS-11 and the international personality disorder evaluation screening questionnaire (IPDE-SQ) to predict suicide attempter (SA) status using different classification techniques. In addition, we examine the discriminative capacity of individual items from both scales.

Materials and methods

Two experiments aimed at evaluating the accuracy of different classification techniques were conducted. The answers of 879 individuals (345 SA, 384 healthy blood donors, and 150 psychiatric inpatients) to the BIS-11 and IPDE-SQ were used to compare the classification performance of two techniques that have successfully been applied in pattern recognition issues, Boosting and support vector machines (SVM) with respect to linear discriminant analysis, Fisher linear discriminant analysis, and the traditional psychometrical approach.

Results

The most discriminative BIS-11 and IPDE-SQ items are “I am self controlled” (Item 6) and “I often feel empty inside” (item 40), respectively. The SVM classification accuracy was 76.71% for the BIS-11 and 80.26% for the IPDE-SQ.

Conclusions

The IPDE-SQ items have better discriminative abilities than the BIS-11 items for classifying SA. Moreover, IPDE-SQ is able to obtain better SA and non-SA classification results than the BIS-11. In addition, SVM outperformed the other classification techniques in both questionnaires.     

Differential relationships between sub-traits of BIS-11 impulsivity and executive processes: An ERP study

There is mixed evidence for a relationship between impulsivity and executive functions. Although impulsivity is heterogeneous, previous research did not examine partial relationships controlling for shared variance across sub-traits to evaluate the specificity of these associations. Eighty-five undergraduates completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) and the AX-expectancy version of the Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT). This task engenders a conflict between two response tendencies by manipulating the frequency of specific trial types. We conducted mixed model analyses to determine the unique variance in behavioral and electrophysiological indices of relevant cognitive functions accounted for by the facets of BIS-11. Motor Impulsiveness was associated with smaller P3 across sites and conditions suggesting a general cognitive limitation not specific to the condition requiring the most inhibition, and larger N2 in some conditions indicating heightened conflict detection. Non-Planning Impulsiveness was related to smaller N2 when inhibiting a primed response and with greater P3 in some contexts. Attentional Impulsiveness appeared to be associated with an inefficient conflict detection system indicated by relatively normal engagement in trials involving the non-potent response, but relatively over engagement in the prepotent condition. Our findings suggest that sub-traits of impulsivity are differentially related to executive processes.     

Male axillary extracts modify the affinity of the platelet serotonin transporter and impulsiveness in women

The presence of functional pheromones in axillary extracts in humans is still matter of debate. Scattered data suggest that unidentified human axillary compounds with pheromonal activity may influence mood and this may occur, perhaps, through the modulation of the serotonin (5-HT) system that has been linked to mood by several findings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the possible changes of a peripheral marker of the 5-HT system, i.e., the platelet 5HT transporter, and of some psychological tests, in a group of women who were exposed to male axillary extracts (group 1). A matched group of women who underwent an exposure to a neutral solution, were used as control subjects (group 2). The 5-HT transporter was evaluated by means of the specific binding of ³H-paroxetine (³H-Par) to platelet membranes, as well as by means of ³H-5-HT reuptake in whole platelets, at baseline (T0) and 1 h after the stimulation (T1). The following tests were used: the “Experiences in Close Relationships” questionnaire (ECR), the latest version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Structured Clinical Interview for Mood Spectrum, self-reported version. The dissociation constant (Kd) of ³H-Par binding showed a significant decrease at T1 only in the women exposed to male axillary extracts, as compared with baseline values, while the Bmax and ³H-5-HT reuptake parameters did not show any change in both groups. The correlation analyses showed that at T0, the Kd values correlated significantly and positively with the factor of motor impulsiveness in all subjects. Two factors of the BIS-11, in particular, the attentional and the motor impulsiveness were significantly lower at T1 in the group 1. Further, at T1 and still in the group 1, a significant and positive correlation was measured between the Kd values and two ECR attachment styles, the secure and preoccupied, as well as with the ECR anxiety scale.Taken together, these findings suggest that the application of male axillary extracts to women may modify the affinity of their platelet 5-HT transporter, as well as of some impulsiveness and romantic attachment characteristics. The substances responsible for this effect remain to be identified.     

An event-related fMRI study on risk taking by healthy individuals of high or low impulsiveness

This event-related functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study examined the differential neural activities associated with a Risky-Gains task in 18 healthy individuals of high (n = 9) or low (n = 9) impulsiveness, according to their scores on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). The neural activities of people belonging to the high and low impulsiveness groups were monitored by a 3T MRI scanner while they were performing the Risky-Gains task. We demonstrated that a stronger activation in the insula-orbitofrontal-parietal regions was found in the high impulsiveness group compared to the low impulsiveness group. However, the levels of activation in the lateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate regions did not differ between the two groups. The findings suggest that the neural substrates of comprehension of cognitive and affective information associated with risk-taking decision making may vary according to the impulsiveness among healthy individuals.     

Electrophysiological correlates of error processing in borderline personality disorder

The electrophysiological correlates of error processing were investigated in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) using event-related potentials (ERP). Twelve patients with BPD and 12 healthy controls were additionally rated with the Barratt impulsiveness scale (BIS-10). Participants performed a Go/Nogo task while a 64 channel EEG was recorded. Three ERP components were of special interest: error-related negativity (ERN)/error negativity (Ne), early error positivity (early Pe) reflecting automatic error processing, and the late Pe component which is thought to mirror the awareness of erroneous responses. We found smaller amplitudes of the ERN/Ne in patients with BPD compared to controls. Moreover, significant correlations with the BIS-10 non-planning sub-score could be demonstrated for both the entire group and the patient group. No between-group differences were observed for the early and late Pe components. ERP measures appear to be a suitable tool to study clinical time courses in BPD.     

Impulsiveness in borderline personality disorder predicts the long-term outcome of a psychodynamic treatment programme

Despite the preponderance of treatment outcome predictors in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), the predictive value of measures of impulsiveness is inconclusive. This naturalistic study consecutively included hospitalized patients with BPD (N = 99) who underwent a standardized and structured 12-week inpatient treatment programme, which integrated cognitive-behavioural and psychodynamic elements. The Brief Symptom Checklist (BSCL) was applied as outcome measure over four time points: pretreatment, posttreatment, first follow-up at 6 to 8 weeks and second follow-up at 1 year after discharge. Impulsiveness was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) at the pretreatment time point. The BSCL significantly decreased between pretreatment and posttreatment, followed by an increase after posttreatment without reaching pretreatment extent. The temporal course of the BSCL significantly varied with pretreatment BIS in that patients with higher impulsiveness revealed a stronger re-increase of symptom severity from posttreatment to end of follow-up than those with lower impulsiveness. The least impulsive patients thereby showed no rebound effect. The robustness of the results was examined by cross-validation. The results indicate that irrespective of the level of impulsiveness, patients with BPD profit from a structured inpatient treatment. However, long-term treatment success was impaired in patients with high level of impulsiveness at pretreatment. Thus, self-ratings of impulsiveness in BPD patients can be utilized for treatment planning. After discontinuation of interventions, relapse prevention should be implemented early in high impulsive patients as symptoms recrudesce in the course after discharge.     

冲动性和攻击性对大学新生自杀意念的影响

目的:探讨冲动性、攻击性对大学新生自杀意念的影响,为大学生自杀预防与干预工作提供依据。方法:采用Beck自杀意念量表中文版、Barratt冲动性量表中文版、Buss和Perry攻击问卷中文版对成都市某高校1356名大一新生进行调查。结果:自杀意念发生率为31.64%,女大学生自杀意念发生率高于男性(χ2=4.287,P0.05);女大学生冲动性量表总分(t=-2.796,P0.01)、行为冲动性(t=-2.670,P0.01)、认知冲动性分量表分(t=-3.179,P0.005)及愤怒分量表分(t=-2.434,P0.05)高于男大学生,男大学生躯体攻击分量表分高于女大学生(t=7.487,P0.001);有自杀意念大学生冲动性量表总分、行为冲动性、认知冲动性分量表得分、攻击性量表总分及各分量表得分均高于无自杀意念大学生(t=3.942,5.597,2.070,7.559,2.653,4.251,4.846,7.507,7.466;P均0.05);女性(OR=1.736)、敌意(OR=1.036)和指向自我的攻击分值高(OR=1.038)是自杀意念的危险因素;指向自我攻击因子得分对大学生自杀意念水平具有预测作用(R2=0.157)。结论:大学生自杀意念受冲动性和攻击性的影响。     

深圳外来务工人员自杀行为风险与孤独感、抑郁、冲动性的关系

目的:了解深圳外来务工人员的自杀行为风险,探讨孤独感、抑郁和冲动性与自杀行为风险的关系。方法:采取多阶段分层整群抽样方法,从深圳市8家企业中抽取3095名外来务工人员,应用自编自杀行为风险测量问卷(SRQ)、ULCA孤独量表简版(USL-6)、9项患者健康问卷(PHQ-9)、Barratt冲动量表(BIS-Ⅱ)评估自杀行为风险、孤独感、抑郁和冲动性。采用logistic回归探讨变量间的关联,并构建结构方程模型以及进行Bootstrap检验对模型进行分析。结果:有自杀行为风险87人(占2.81%)。USL-6、PHQ-9、BIS-Ⅱ得分均与SRQ得分呈正向关联(OR=1.28、1.16、1.09)。SEM显示,USL-6、PHQ-9、BIS-Ⅱ得分均与SRQ得分呈正向关联(β=0.32、0.17、0.13);Bootstrap检验显示,USL-6得分与PHQ-9、BIS-Ⅱ得分均有直接的正向关联(β=0.85、0.11),标准化路径系数的95%置信区间均不包括0。结论:基于自杀行为风险评估,深圳市外来务工人员自杀行为风险水平相对较低,而孤独感、抑郁和冲动性可能会增加外来务工人员的自杀行为风险。     

Saliva testosterone and criminal violence in young adult prison inmates

Free testosterone was measured in the saliva of 89 male prison inmates. Inmates with higher testosterone concentrations had more often been convicted of violent crimes. The relationship was most striking at the extremes of the testosterone distribution, where 9 out of 11 inmates with the lowest testosterone concentrations had committed nonviolent crimes, and 10 out of 11 inmates with the highest testosterone concentrations had committed violent crimes. Among the inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes, those higher in testosterone received longer times to serve before parole and longer punishments for disciplinary infractions in prison. In the housing unit where peer ratings were most reliable, inmates rated as tougher by their peers were higher in testosterone.     

Functional Connectivity and Quantitative EEG in Women with Alcohol Use Disorders: A Resting-State Study

This study was aimed at exploring the electroencephalographic features associated with alcohol use disorders (AUD) during a resting-state condition, by using quantitative EEG and Functional Connectivity analyses. In addition, we explored whether EEG functional connectivity is associated with trait impulsivity. Absolute and relative powers and Synchronization Likelihood (SL) as a measure of functional connectivity were analyzed in 15 AUD women and fifteen controls matched in age, gender and education. Correlation analysis between self-report impulsivity as measured by the Barratt impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and SL values of AUD patients were performed. Our results showed increased absolute and relative beta power in AUD patients compared to matched controls, and reduced functional connectivity in AUD patients predominantly in the beta and alpha bands. Impaired connectivity was distributed at fronto-central and occipito-parietal regions in the alpha band, and over the entire scalp in the beta band. We also found that impaired functional connectivity particularly in alpha band at fronto-central areas was negative correlated with non-planning dimension of impulsivity. These findings suggest that functional brain abnormalities are present in AUD patients and a disruption of resting-state EEG functional connectivity is associated with psychopathological traits of addictive behavior.     

抑郁症患者冲动性人格与自杀态度的关系研究

目的探讨抑郁症患者冲动性人格与自杀态度的关系。方法采用巴瑞特冲动量表中文版(BIS-11)和自杀态度问卷(QSA)对334例抑郁症患者进行调查。结果冲动性总分与"对自杀行为性质的认识(F1)"和"对安乐死的态度(F4)"显著负相关(r=-0.134,-0.112;P<0.05);运动冲动性与"对自杀行为性质的认识(F1)"和"对安乐死的态度(F4)"显著负相关(r=-0.175,-0.168;P<0.01)。运动冲动性对"对自杀行为性质的认识(F1)"和"对安乐死的态度(F4)"均有显著的预测作用(R2=0.244,F=5.524,R2=0.217,F=4.407,P=0.001)。结论冲动性人格特征对自杀态度有显著的预测作用。     

Norms,reliability, and item analysis of the hopelessness scale in general psychiatric,forensic psychiatric,and college populations

Administered the Hopelessness Scale to 99 criminal psychiatric inpatients, 118 general psychiatric inpatients, and 197 upper-level college students. Normative data were reported for each group. Both of the psychiatric groups endorsed significantly more items in the hopeless direction than did the college student sample. The scale was found to be more reliable with the psychiatric patients than with the college students. This difference in reliability may reflect the restriction of range of hopelessness scores among college students. An item analysis of the Hopelessness Scale for each of the three groups was presented. These data suggest that three items (4, 5, 13) were not measuring hopelessness as reflected in the other items. Suggestions for further research with the Hopelessness Scale to clarify the components of hopelessness in nonpsychiatric populations were presented.     

Anti-depressant prescribing patterns for prison inmates with depressive disorders

BACKGROUND: Although prison inmates are reported to exhibit elevated rates of depressive disorders, little is known about anti-depressant prescribing patterns in correctional institutions. METHODS: The study population consisted of 5305 Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) inmates who were diagnosed with one of three depressive disorders: major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder (excluding those with manic episodes only). Information on medical conditions, sociodemographic factors, and pharmacotherapy was obtained from an institution-wide medical information system. RESULTS: In 1998, 78.2% of all inmates diagnosed with depressive disorders were treated with antidepressant medication. Of these, 47.3% were treated exclusively with tricyclic anti-depressants (TCA); 30.9% were treated with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI); and 21.8% were not treated with any form of anti-depressant medication. Prescribing patterns varied substantially according to a number of sociodemographic factors under study. LIMITATIONS: Because the present study relied on retrospective, clinical data, the investigators had limited ability to assess: specific symptomatology for each diagnosed depressive condition under study; socio-economic status, pre-incarceration access to health care; and the overall reliability and validity of the data. CONCLUSION: The proportion of prison inmates with depressive disorders who receive appropriate medication management is substantially higher than that reported among similarly diagnosed nonincarcerated samples. It will be important, however, for future investigators to examine the sources of sociodemographic variation in treatment patterns found in the present study.     

HIV / AIDS and STD prevention in Surinamese prisons

The Suriname National AIDS Program (NAP) developed an education and support program involving activities for prison inmates, staff, and non-prison personnel and organizations. Male inmates and prison warders were selected for training as peer educators. Male inmates formalized their status by forming the Boma AIDS Education Collective (BAEC). Female inmates were not included in the training because most of them served short sentences and were instead involved in educational sessions which focused on sexual and mother-child transmission of STDs. BAEC produced AIDS education leaflets in three languages (Dutch, English, and Sranan Tongo) for new and discharged inmates at the prison and also for all prisoners in Suriname. The leaflets were then pre-tested and modified based on comments from 17 inmates. The Program was officially introduced in April 1992 when BAEC organized an AIDS/STD week. The week's activities included AIDS educational sessions, video shows, discussions, and HIV testing. A permanent AIDS/HIV counseling system, which specifies that among other things HIV testing must be done on a voluntary basis, was implemented at Santo Boma prison for both male and female inmates. A manual was produced for peer educators, and AIDS/STD education has since been included in the prison warder training curriculum. A number of collaborative activities with non-prison organizations were organized to demonstrate that prisoners are part of a wider community concerned about HIV/AIDS. However, some prisoners are against condom distribution in the prisons, because they feel that it would encourage homosexual contacts. Prison authorities have not yet approved official condom distribution.