Measuring Impulsivity in Children: Adaptation and Validation of a Short Version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviors Scale in Children and Investigation of its Links With ADHD.

Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct known to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a wide range of problematic behaviors and psychological disorders in children. In this study, we adapted the short French adult version of the UPPS-P (urgency-premeditation-perseverance-sensation seeking-positive urgency) Impulsive Behaviors Scale for use with children (short UPPS-P-C) and tested its psychometric properties. Confirmatory factor analyses conducted on a sample of 425 children (aged 8-14 years) supported the five-factor structure of the scale. Additional analyses emphasized the good internal and test-retest reliability of the short UPPS-P-C. Furthermore, our results also revealed that lack of premeditation, positive urgency, and negative urgency subscales were able to discriminate between children diagnosed with ADHD and their matched controls. These results suggest that the short UPPS-P-C may be considered as a promising time-saving tool to assess impulsivity traits in healthy children and in children with psychiatric disorders.