Abstract
Seven different laboratory measures of impulsivity were administered to a group of 165 school-aged boys. Parents' and teachers' ratings of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional/Defiant Disorder were also obtained. Factor analyses of impulsivity measures revealed the existence of a strong Inhibitory Control Factor including measures derived from Stop Task, the Continuous Performance Test, the Matching Familiar Figures Test, and the Circle Tracing Task. Other forms of impulsivity like resistance to interference, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and efficiency in the DRL Task loaded on a second independent factor. The Inhibitory Control factor was correlated with ADHD ratings, whereas the second factor was slightly related to the presence of ODD symptoms. Discussion is focused on the relevance of inhibitory control in impulsivity and ADHD research.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington, DC: Author.
Avila C. (2001). Distinguishing BIS-mediated and BAS-mediated disinhibition mechanisms: A comparison of disinhibition models of Gray and Patterson and Newman. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 311-324.
Avila, C., Cuenca, I., Félix, V., Parcet, M. A., Ribes, M. I., & Miranda, A. (2001). Evaluación neuropsicológica en el TDAH: la evaluación de la impulsividad. In A. Miranda (Ed.), I Symposium internacional de deficit atención y dificultades de aprendizaje (pp. 23-45). Algibe: Málaga.
Avila, C., & Parcet, M. A. (2001). Personality and inhibitory deficits in the stop-signal task: The mediating role of Gray's anxiety and impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(6), 975-986.
Bachorowski, J. A., & Newman, J. P. (1990). Impulsive motor behavior: Effects of personality and goal salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 512-518.
Barkley, R. A. (1997). Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: Constructing an unified theory of ADHD. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 65-94.
Carrillo de la Peña, M. T., Otero, J. M., & Romero, E. (1993). Comparison among various methods of assessment of impulsiveness. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 77, 567-575.
Gerbing, D., Ahadi, S., & Patton, J. (1987). Toward a conceptualisation of impulsivity: Components across the behavioral and self-report domains. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 22, 1-22.
Golden, C. J. (1978). Stroop-color word test: A manual for clinical use and experimental use. Chicago: Stoleting.
Halperin, J. M., Sharma, V., Greenblatt, E. R., & Schwartz S. T. (1991). Assessment of the Continuous Performance Test: Reliability and validity in a nonreferred sample. Psychological Assessment, 3, 603-608.
Heaton, R. K., Chelune, G. J., Talley J. L., Kay, G. C., & Curtis, G. (1993). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Manual revised and expanded. Odessa, Fl: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Johnston, C., & Patenaude, R. (1994). Parent attributions for inattentive-overactive and oppositional-defiant child behaviors. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 18, 261-275.
Kindlon, D. J., Mezzacappa, E., & Earls, F. (1995). Psychometric properties of impulsivity measures: Temporal stability, validity and factor structure. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 36, 645-661.
Kochanska, G., Murray, K., Jacques, T. Y., Koenig, A., & Vandegeest, K. A. (1996). Inhibitory control in young children and its role in emerging internalization. Child Development, 67, 490-507.
Logan, G. D., Schachar, R. J., & Tannock, R. (1997). Impulsivity and inhibitory control. Psychological Science, 8, 60-64.
Loney, J., & Milich, R. (1982). Hyperactivity, Inattention and aggression in clinical practice. In M. Wolraich & D.K. Routh (Eds.), Advances in behavioral pediatrics (pp. 113-147). Greenwich: JAI Press.
Luengo, M. A., Carillo de la Peña, M. T., Otero, J. M., & Romero, E. (1994). A short-term longitudinal study of impulsivity and antisocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 542-548.
Milich, R., Hartung, C. M., Martin, C. A. & Heigler, E. D. (1994). Behavioral disinhibition and underlying processes in adoolescents with disruptive behavior disorders. In D.K. Routh (Ed.), Disruptive behavior disorders in childhod (pp. 109-138). New York: Plenum.
Milich, R., & Kramer, J. (1984). Reflections on impulsivity: An empirical investigation of impulsivity as a construct. In K.D. Gadow (Ed.), Advances in learning and bahavioral disabilities (Vol. 3, pp. 57-94). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Nigg, J. T. (2000). On inhibition/disinhibition in developmental psychopathology: Views from cognitive and personality psychology and a working inhibition taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 220-246.
Nigg, J. T. (2001). Is ADHD a disinhibitory behavior?. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 571-598.
Olson, S. L. (1989). Assessment of impulsivity in preschoolers: Cross-measure convergences, longitudinal stability, and relevance to social competence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 176-183.
Olson, S. L., Schilling, E. M., & Bates, J. E. (1999). Measurement of impulsivity: Construct coherence, longitudinal stability, and relationship with externalizing problems in middle childhood and adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 151-165.
Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (1996). Inhibition in ADHD, aggressive, and anxious children: A biologically based model of child psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 19-36.
Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., & Hershey, K. L., (1994). Temperament and development of personality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 55-66.
Sergeant, J., Geurts H., & Oosterlaan, J. (2002). How specific is a deficit of executive functioning for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?. Behavioral Brain Research, 130, 3-28.
Servera, M., & Llabrés, J. (2000). EMIC (Escala Magallanes de Impulsividad Computarizada). Bilbao, Spain: Albor-Cohs.
Schrimsher, G. W., Billingsley, R. L., Jackson, E. F., & Moore, B. D. (2002). Caudate nucleus volume asymmetry predicts attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomatology in children. Journal of Child Neurology, 17, 877-884.
Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2002). Psychological heterogeneity in AD/HD—A dual pathway model of behaviour and cognition. Behavioural Brain Research, 10, 29-36.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics. New York: Harper Collins.
Tannock, R., & Schachar, R. (1996). Executive dysfunction as an underlying mechanism of behavior and language problems in attention defect hyperactivity disorder. In J.H. Beitchman, N.J. Cohen, M.M. Konstantareas, & R. Tannock (Eds.), Language, learning, and behavior disorders (pp. 128-155). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
White, J. L., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Bartusch, D. J., Needles, D. J., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1994). Measuring impulsivity and examining its relationship to delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 192-205.
Zaparniuk, J., & Taylor, S. (1997). Impulsivity in children and adolescents. In C.D. Webster & M.A. Jackson (Eds.), Impulsivity: Theory, assessment, and treatment (pp. 158-179). New York: Guilford.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Avila, C., Cuenca, I., Félix, V. et al. Measuring Impulsivity in School-Aged Boys and Examining Its Relationship with ADHD and ODD Ratings. J Abnorm Child Psychol 32, 295–304 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000026143.70832.4b
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000026143.70832.4b