UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS)

Background

The original UPPS (UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale), the UPPS-P and the SUPPS-P (Short UPPS-P) are self-report questionnaires used to measure different facets of impulsive personality. The 45-item UPPS was originally created by Stephen P. Whiteside and Donald R. Lynam in 2001 and changed how the psychology community understands the concept of impulsivity. Instead of treating impulsivity as a single monolithic trait, the UPPS suggest that a person can act rashly for completely different underlying reasons. The UPPS originally postulated four facets of impulsivity, but later split the facet of 'urgency' into 'negative' and 'positive' urgency on the 59-item UPPS-P and its short version, the 20-item SUPPS-P by Melissa A. Cyders and colleagues in 2014.

The four (UPPS) or five (UPPS-P, SUPPS-P) dimensions of impulsivity are:

1. Lack of Premeditation: Difficulty thinking about and considering the consequences of an action before performing it.
2. Lack of Perseverance: Trouble staying focused and completing tasks that are boring or difficult.
3. Sensation Seeking: The enjoyment of and desire for novel, thrilling, or exciting experiences.
4. Negative Urgency: The tendency to act rashly when experiencing intense negative emotions (e.g., distress, anger). and added to the UPPS-P/SUPPS-P:
5. Positive Urgency: The tendency to take rash actions during very positive or exciting moods.

Task Procedure

The UPPS/UPPS-P/SUPPS-P consists of 45/59/20 self-report statements such as "I generally like to see things through to the end" and participants rate their agreement with these statements on a 5-point scale with the anchors ranging from "Strongly Agree" to "Strongly Disagree". Higher scores suggest higher impulsivity. The order of the items is fixed with the items of the different scales being presented in semi-random order.

What it Measures

The UPPS/UPPS-P/SUPPS-P are self-report measures of impulsivity

Psychological domains

• Emotion Regulation: Processing of intense emotional states
• Cognitive Control and Executive Functioning: Ability to plan and stay focused
• Sensation Seeking: Drive for novel, thrilling, and high-stimulus environments

Main Performance Metrics

• Subscale Subscores: Sum of all individual scores on each subscale; the higher the score the higher the measured impulsivity

Psychiatric Conditions

Patients with the following conditions tend to show higher scores on specific subscales on the UPPS/UPPS-P/SUPPS-P:

• Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
• Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
• Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Bipolar Disorder
• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) & Suicidal Ideation

Test Variations

References

Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS).

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Whiteside, S. P., & Lynam, D. R. (2001). The Five Factor Model and impulsivity: using a structural model of personality to understand impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(4), 669-689.

Whiteside, S. P., Lynam, D. R., Miller, J. D., & Reynolds, S. K. (January 01, 2005). Validation of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale: A Four-Factor Model of Impulsivity. European Journal of Personality, 19, 7, 559-574.

Magid, V., & Colder, C. R. (November 01, 2007). The UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale: Factor structure and associations with college drinking. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 7, 1927-1937.

Miller, D. J., Derefinko, K. J., Lynam, D. R., Fillmore, M. T., & Fillmore, M. T. (January 01, 2010). Impulsivity and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder: Subtype Classification Using the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32, 3, 323-332.

Carlson, S. R., Pritchard, A. A., & Dominelli, R. M. (January 01, 2013). Externalizing behavior, the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior scale and Reward and Punishment Sensitivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 2, 202-207.

Cyders, M. A. (January 01, 2013). Impulsivity and the Sexes: Measurement and Structural Invariance of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. Assessment, 20, 1, 86-97.

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