Psychometric properties of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems scale in Iranian adolescents: Comparison of two factorial models

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability & validity of the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Systems (BIS/BAS) Scale (Carver & Wight, 1994) in Iranian adolescences.
The method of this research was correlational and the population consisted of 13- 15 year old male and female students in Tehran (N=12, 2170 in 2012/13). Of these, 303 male andfemale students were selected by cluster sampling from three regions in Tehran in accordance with the Depatrment of Education's City of Tehran regional classification system and completed the BIS/BAS as well as the Youth Self-report Questionnaire, YSQ (Achenbach& Rescola, 2001) to assess behavioral and emotional problems.
Results of Cronbach’s Alpha of BIS (0.76) & BAS (0.87) and test-retest correlations of 0.91 & 0.89 (for BIS and BAS respectively) showed this scale had good internal consistency and scores showed excellent consistency across time. The result of the confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit for the four factor structure of Carver & White (1994), consisting of behavioral inhibition, responsive to reward, fun seeking and drive toward appetitive goals had a better fit. Relation of BIS and BAS with different behavioral and emotional problems showed evidence for construct validity of the scale.
Overall, the findings showed that the four factor model of BIS/ BAS has good fit and reliability and validity of the scale was supported in Iranian adolescents and it is suitable for research and use in clinical settings.