Half-year retest-reliability of the barratt impulsiveness scale-short form (BIS-15)

Abstract

One of the most widely used instruments for the measurement of impulsivity is the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale(BIS-11). The short form of the BIS-11, the BIS-15, consists of 15 items representing the three subscales Attentional, Motor, and Non-Planning Impulsivity. In the current study, retest-reliabilities of BIS-15 scores were examined. Female university students completed the BIS-15 at the beginning of the first (n= 133) and second (n= 120) semesters. Half-year retest-reliability was r tt = .79 for the BIS-15 total score and ranged between r tt = .61 and .78 for the subscales. Considering the long time span of almost half a year between measurements, the total score of the BIS-15 has high retest-reliability and, thus, measures impulsivity as a stable personality trait.