Impulsivity and its Different Assessment Tools: A Review of View Points and Conducted Researches

Impulsive behaviors are activities in daily life which are sometimes referred to as risky activities and encompass a diverse group of reward-oriented, immature and high risk behaviors. It can be argued that impulsivity is the main core of different social pathologies such as disinhibited sexual behavior, pathological gambling, drug abuse, personality disorders and criminal activities. Considering the young population of our country and the high rate of crime and substance abuse, conducting research and providing cultural validated assessment instruments on impulsivity and im-pulsive behaviors is necessary. Despite the importance of this subject in psychology and psychiatry, there is not much agreement with regard to the definitions. In this review article, the authors have aimed to gather different definitions of impulsivity which has been given up to the present as well as different approaches to its evaluation in a homogeneous collection. Also, different methods and examples of their application in the evaluation of these behaviors and current experiences in Iran will be presented. In the end, different methods and horizon of intervention and treatment will be discussed.