Impulsivity and its influencing factors in male prisoners

Objective To evaluate the level of male prisoners' impulsivity and its influencing factors.Methods Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th Version(BIS-11), Self-Acceptance Questionnaire(SAQ), Synder' Self-Monitoring Scale(SSMS), and Internal-External Locus of Control Scale(I-ELCS) were used to assess 456 male prisoners in two prisons and 178 healthy men selected with stratified randoml sampling in Henan province.Results The scores of impulsivity, motor impulsivity, nonplanning impulsivity of male prisoners were 59.55±9.23, 19.87±4.05, and 24.13±4.87, which were significantly higher than those of the healthy men(57.17±8.84, 18.80±3.92, and 23.26±4.15)(P<0.05 for all).The male prisoners' scores of SAQ(40.79±5.14) and SSMS(10.41±3.55) were lower than those of the healthy men(43.15±6.17 and 11.56±3.92)(P<0.05 for both), but the former(11.43±4.07) was higher than the latter(9.33±4.01) for the score of I-ELCS(P<0.05).The impulsivity was negatively correlated with self-acceptance and self-control(P<0.05), but was positively correlated with locus of control(P<0.05).The multiple regression analyses showed that educational level(b=-3.111, P=0.000), self-evaluation(b=-0.658, P=0.000), self-acceptance(b=-0.548, P=0.000), self-monitoring(b=-0.438, P=0.000), and locus of control(b=0.297, P=0.002) had predictive effect on impulsivity.Conclusion Male prisoners have higher impulsivity.The male prisoners' educational level, self-acceptance level, self-monitoring and locus of control have important impacts on their impulsivity.