[Validation of the French translation of the impulsive nonconformity scale]

Service hospitalo-universitaire, hôpital Edouard-Herriot, université Lyon-1, Lyon, France.

INTRODUCTION: Impulsive traits are key characteristics in a lot of psychiatric disorders and are part of the "normal" behaviour spectrum. Although impulsivity is a controversial concept, some questionnaires have focused on its "dysfunctional" aspect. The Barratt Impulsive Scale (BIS-10) is the scale the most used to explore impulsiveness, but it does not explore antisocial or nonconform behaviour. The Chapman Impulsive and Nonconformity Scale (INCS) is a questionnaire of 51 items that measures the impulsivity and nonconformism. The INCS reflects "failure to internalize societal norms, lack of empathy for the pain of others, and an unrestrained yielding to impulse and self-gratification" and was originally designed to assess psychosis proneness. It has been validated in the USA, but has not yet been validated in France. Interestingly, although it was not predictive of psychosis, high scorers on INCS exceeded controls on depression, and on rates of substance abuse. Furthermore, participants scoring high on hypomanic personality scale and INCS were found to have an especially heightened risk for bipolar disorders. OBJECTIVE: To translate and determine reliability and validity of the French version of the Chapman Impulsive and Nonconformity Scale in young adults by comparison with the BIS. METHOD: Chapman Impulsive and Nonconformity Scale has been back-translated into French, and filled out by 237 students (males: 104; females: 133; mean age: 20.4 [range 19-25]). BIS-10 was used for convergent validity. Each participant completed the two scales. Reliability and validity of the French form of INCS were assessed with the internal consistency (coefficient alpha of Cronbach and the split half reliability) and the convergent validity. RESULTS: In the French version of the INCS, the 51 items have high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.81 and split half reliability=0.80). Concerning the BIS, internal reliability is good (Cronbach's alpha=0.72 and split half reliability=0.66). Moreover, Pearson's r of the INCS/BIS is statistically significant (0.65) and underlines the concomitant validity of the INCS with the BIS. CONCLUSION: The psychometric properties of the French version of the INCS are very similar to those of the English version. Hence, the INCS could provide a way to explore the two related dimensions: impulsivity and nonconformism.

PMID: 19081452 [PubMed - in process]