Impulsiveness and psychiatric disorders: a transnosographic comparison among 179 psychiatric inpatients

Impulsiveness seems to be widely represented from a transnosographic point of view within the various clinical patterns. The aim of our study was to assess impulsiveness in 179 psychiatric inpatients affected by various psychiatric disorders and to analyse the relationship between impulsiveness and socio-demographic, clinical and psychopathological characteristics. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) scores did not demonstrate any difference between the diagnostic groups; the correlations between BIS and Revised Self-Report Symptom Inventory scores resulted meaningful and positive. The Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Scale score, unlike the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and Hamilton Anxiety Scale ones, showed a positive significant correlation to the BIS total score. Our data shows the absence of meaningful differences among the various psychiatric disorders regarding both the overall level of impulsiveness and the presence of specific levels of impulsiveness.