BIS-11 Administration and Scoring

The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Version 11 (BIS-11; Patton et al., 1995) is a 30 item self-report questionnaire designed to assess general impulsiveness taking into account the multi-factorial nature of the construct.  The structure of the instrument allows for the assessment of six first-order factors (attention, motor, self-control, cognitive complexity, perseverance, cognitive instability) and three second-order factors (attentional impulsiveness [attention and cognitive instability], motor impulsiveness [motor and perseverance], nonplanning impulsiveness [self-control and cognitive complexity]).  A total score is obtained by summing the first or second-order factors.  The items are scored on a four point scale (Rarely/Never [1], Occasionally [2], Often [3], Almost Always/Always [4]).

 BIS-11 English Version

1^st Order Factor Item Content

Attention (5 items): 5, 9^*, 11, 20^*, 28

Motor (7 items): 2, 3, 4, 17, 19, 22, 25

Self-Control (6 items): 1^*, 7^*, 8^*, 12^*, 13^*, 14

Cognitive Complexity (5 items): 10^*, 15^*, 18, 27, 29^*

Perseverance (4 items): 16, 21, 23, 30^*

Cognitive Instability (3 items): 6, 24, 26

2^nd Order Factor Item Content

Attentional Impulsiveness (8 items): 6, 5, 9^*, 11, 20^*, 24, 26, 28

Motor Impulsiveness (11 items): 2, 3, 4, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 30^*

Nonplanning Impulsiveness (11 items): 1^*, 7^*, 8^*, 10^*, 12^*, 13^*, 14, 15^*, 18, 27, 29^*

^*Reversed item scored 4, 3, 2, 1

If you have questions concerning the BIS-11 please
contact Matthew S. Stanford, Ph.D., Department of Psychology &
Neuroscience, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97334, Waco, TX 76798-7334, tel:
254-710-2236, fax: 254-710-3033, email: Matthew_Stanford@baylor.edu 

Reference:

 Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S. and Barratt, E. S.  (1995).  Factor structure of the Barratt impulsiveness scale.  Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 768-774.