State Impulsivity Scale (SIS)

Abstract

The State Impulsivity Scale (SIS) is a 20-item self-report instrument developed to assess the transient, situational experience of impulsivity, differentiating it from enduring trait impulsivity. Developed and validated by Iribarren, Jiménez-Giménez, García-de Cecilia, and Rubio-Valladolid in 2011, the scale utilizes a robust three-factor structure. This structure captures distinct facets of state-dependent impulsive behavior, including immediate reward seeking, automatic reactions, and attentional deficits in decision-making. The SIS serves as a valuable tool in clinical and research contexts where measuring fluctuations in impulsive states, such as during treatment monitoring or acute psychological episodes, is essential.

Keywords

Impulsivity, psychometrics, State Impulsivity Scale, SIS, Reward Sensitivity, Automatism, Attentional Impulsivity, psychological assessment, state measurement.

Authors

M. M. Iribarren, M. Jiménez-Giménez, J. M. García-de Cecilia, G. Rubio-Valladolid.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SIS is to quantify the intensity and frequency of impulsive tendencies as they manifest in a current or temporary psychological state. By focusing on state rather than trait, the scale allows researchers to investigate how momentary factors—such as stress, intoxication, or specific affective states—influence an individual’s capacity for self-control and planning.

The instrument is designed to be highly sensitive to changes occurring over short periods. This sensitivity makes it particularly useful in clinical trials and treatment efficacy studies, where monitoring the reduction or increase of impulsive behaviors in response to therapeutic or pharmacological interventions is critical for disorders characterized by poor impulse control, such as substance use disorder and various personality disorders.

Construct

The SIS measures the multidimensional construct of state impulsivity. This construct is defined by the immediate, situationally driven inclination toward action without adequate forethought regarding consequences. The scale operationalizes this through three distinct sub-constructs identified via factor analysis:

• Reward Sensitivity: Reflects the powerful motivation to pursue immediate gratification and pleasure, often overriding rational judgment or long-term goals.
• Automatism: Pertains to the difficulty in inhibiting established or automatic behavioral responses, even when those responses are recognized as ineffective or erroneous.
• Attentional Impulsivity: Relates to cognitive dysregulation, specifically the tendency to make rapid, premature decisions, fail to attend to important details, or draw erroneous conclusions due to insufficient waiting time.

Validity

The initial validation study conducted by the authors in 2011 established the construct validity of the SIS. Through statistical methods, including factor analysis, the researchers confirmed that the scale items loaded onto the hypothesized three-factor structure (Reward, Automatism, and Attentional). This provided strong evidence that the SIS measures the intended, distinct components of state impulsivity.

Further psychometric analyses typically conducted alongside the factor analysis, such as testing for convergent and divergent validity, would demonstrate that the SIS scores correlate positively with other measures of impulsivity or related constructs (e.g., risk-taking) and show low correlation with unrelated constructs, confirming the specificity of the measurement.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the SIS was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients, indicating the homogeneity of items within the scale and its subscales. The results demonstrated good reliability across all measured factors:

• The Reward Sensitivity factor achieved an alpha coefficient of 0.84.
• The Automatism factor showed an alpha coefficient of 0.809.
• The Attentional Impulsivity factor registered an alpha coefficient of 0.756.

These coefficients confirm that the items within each subscale are internally consistent and measure their respective underlying dimensions reliably, meeting standard criteria for psychological scales.

Factor Analysis

The factor analysis of the SIS yielded a clear, three-dimensional structure, supporting the theoretical distinction between different manifestations of state impulsivity. This structure is essential for clinical interpretation, as it allows practitioners to identify specific areas of impulsive dysfunction.

• The Reward Factor consists of items 1 through 7, focusing on the immediate drive for pleasurable outcomes and difficulties with delayed gratification.
• The Automatism Factor includes items 8 through 13, measuring the tendency toward repetitive or difficult-to-inhibit actions.
• The Attentional Factor comprises items 14 through 20, assessing cognitive errors related to premature responding and lack of foresight regarding consequences.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire.

Format: 20 items rated on a 4-point frequency scale (Almost never, Sometimes, Quite often, Almost Always/Always).

Language Available: Spanish (Original validation), English (Translation available in the published validation article).

Population Group: Adults.

Age Group: Typically 18+ (Adult population).

Population Details: Validated within a context related to Spanish psychiatry, suggesting initial psychometric testing utilized a sample relevant to clinical or general adult populations in Spain.

Test Methodology: The scale requires respondents to rate how frequently they engage in or experience the described impulsive behaviors or thoughts in their current state. Subscale scores are derived by summing the responses for the corresponding factor items.

Keywords

Psychological assessment, state measurement, clinical scale, self-control, psychopathology, behavioral inhibition, gratification delay, validation study, cognitive impulsivity.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source).

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source).

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The State Impulsivity Scale (SIS) was developed and validated in 2011. Information regarding licensing, usage fees, and permissions for commercial or non-academic use should be sought directly from the corresponding author (M. M. Iribarren) or the journal publisher (Actas españolas de psiquiatría).

Test Year: 2011.

The original PDF containing the validation details and the instrument can be downloaded here: http://actaspsiquiatria.es/repositorio/13/69/ENG/13-69-ENG-49-60-199958.pdf.

Reference’s

Iribarren MM, Jiménez-Giménez M, García-de Cecilia JM, Rubio-Valladolid G. (2011). Validation and psychometric properties of the State Impulsivity Scale (SIS). Actas españolas de psiquiatría; 39(1):49-60.

Items of the State Impulsivity Scale (SIS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. I seek activities where I obtain rapid pleasure, even if they are harmful
2. I generally fall into temptations that make it hard for me to fulfill a commitment
3. I seek immediate benefits instead of waiting for something better later on
4. I continue doing certain pleasurable activities even if the others warn me that they are harmful for me
5. When I have a craving for something, I go for it immediately, without being able to wait
6. I obtain more pleasure transgressing than controlling my actions
7. It is hard for me to control my reactions even if I do not get what I want
8. It is hard for me to stop doing something when I see that I am making a mistake
9. I have automatic reactions that I cannot avoid
10. If I do something and do not obtain the results I expects, it is hard for me to do something else
11. I usually react in the same way, even if it is not the appropriate time or place
12. I do not restrain my reactions no matter how much others tell me to stop
13. I repeat the same way of acting many times even if it does not achieve what I am seeking
14. I generally make mistakes because I react so quickly that I do not pay sufficient attention to important details
15. When something unexpectedly occurs, I act without considering the consequences
16. I draw erroneous conclusions because I do not wait for the appropriate time
17. Sometimes I do not pay attention to the immediate consequences of my actions
18. I respond before someone has finished asking me a question
19. In some situations, I do not wait long enough and act prematurely
20. I act without thinking that others may get angry because of what I do.