Assessing impulsivity: Relationships between behavioral and self-report measures in individuals with and without self-reported ADHD

- Impulsivity has no uniform definition across clinical and non-clinical studies.
- The present study examined self-report and behavioral measures of impulsivity.
- Participants with and without self-reported history of ADHD completed an assessment.
- Three factors of impulsivity emerged on a principal component's analysis.
- Attentional impulsivity differentiated between individuals with and without a history of self-reported ADHD diagnosis.

The present study examined relationships between self-report and behavioral measures of impulsivity, a personality characteristic linked to diagnostic criteria for multiple psychological disorders, in individuals who either self-reported (n = 28) or did not self-report (n = 147) a history of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Undergraduate student participants completed several self-report measures of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Impulsive Sensation Seeking subscale, BIS/BAS Scale, Conner's Adult ADHD Rating Scale, and Frontal Systems Behavior Rating Scale) and three behavioral measures of impulsivity (Balloon Analogue Risk Task, Delay Discounting Task, Stroop). A principal components analysis indicated three components encompassing attentional impulsiveness, reward sensitivity, and behavioral and motor impulsiveness; however, none of the behavioral measures factored with the self-report measures. Logistic regressions found attentional impulsiveness to distinguish between individuals with and without a self-reported history of ADHD diagnosis. Impulsivity is a multi-faceted construct, and the utilization of multiple measures, both self-report and behavioral, can aid to more fully and accurately assess the construct in both research and clinical settings.