Objective: Impulsivity is associated with different psychiatric disorders. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 is one of the scales mostly used to measure impulsivity and it does not have a validated version for Brazilian Portuguese. The objective of this study is to adapt and conduct the construct validation of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 for adolescents.
Method: The scale was translated and adapted into Portuguese and then back-translated into English. The psychometric proprieties, factor analysis and construct validity were evaluated in two samples: 18 bilingual undergraduate medical students and 464 male adolescents between 15 and 20 years old from a well-delimited geographical area in the city of Canoas, southern Brazil.
Results: The adolescent sample had a mean age of 17.3 +/- 1.7 years. Intra-class correlation coefficient achieved a value of 0.90, and internal consistency had a of 0.62. Factor analysis did not identify the 3 factors of the original scale. Impulsivity scores from the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 had a correlation with scores for attention deficit/hyperactive disorder and oppositional defiant disorder and with number of symptoms of conduct disorder, suggesting an appropriate construct validity of the scale.
Conclusion: Even considering some limitations in the Portuguese version, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 can be used in male adolescents and should be tested in other populations.