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We developed and validated a self-administered questionnaire (Subjective Quality of Life Analysis, S.QUA.L.A.) to measure subjective quality of life. S.QUA.L.A. is a multidimensional instrument. This scale includes 22 domains of life. It covers traditional areas (food, family relation etc)., and more abstract aspects of life (politic, justice, freedom, truth, beauty and art, love). For each domain, patients are asked to evaluate their degree of satisfaction. They have also to indicate how important this domain is for them. We questioned 92 patients with schizophrenia and 357 para-medical students. The research demonstrated reproducibility, high internal consistency reliability, and sensitivity to change. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was performed. A five-factor solution was selected, showing a great contribution of different dimensions of the self. Determinants of quality of life were identified by using correlations with Lehman's Quality of Life Interview (QOLI), and with measures of psychopathology and social functioning. Satisfaction approach and QOLI showed the same construct. We confirmed the influence of symptoms of depression and anxiety on subjective quality of life assessment, and the poor impact of disease parameters.

The Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) is a psychometrically sound instrument available in several languages, including French, aimed at arranging individuals along a continuum from high "eveningness" to high "morningness." On the other hand, impulsivity is involved in many personality disorders and is thought to be orthogonal to venturesomeness, which can be seen as a component of the broader construct of sensation seeking. We hypothesized that evening-type subjects would be more impulsive than morning-types. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to students, and only complete forms were analyzed (194 males and 358 females). A four-way analysis of covariance showed significant effects of age, gender and impulsivity, but not venturesomeness, on morningness in the sense of a higher degree of eveningness in more impulsive subjects. In addition, the correlation coefficients in both genders were similar to those reported in smaller samples. Our findings deserve further interest because, regardless of gender, they suggest a possible physiopathological approach to impulsivity that may be accessible by circadian interventions such as midday bright light exposure or pharmacological treatments.

Objective: Impulsivity has been found to be an important trait of personality, whose consequences are not always negative although available questionnaires focused on its ‘dysfunctional’ aspect. Method: Dickman's Functional and Dysfunctional Impulsivity questionnaire has been translated into French, and filled out by students. The tetrachoric correlation matrices were factor analysed. Results: The psychometric properties are very close to those of the English version, and we recovered both factors in males and females. The factor similarities between the genders (in our sample) and between the languages (English vs. French) are very good. The Dysfunctional scale is correlated with the Motor Impulsivity subscale of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and both scales are grossly independent from Spielberger's Trait-Anxiety Inventory. Conclusion: Our results support a two-factor solution similar to the English one. Nevertheless, the validity of the functional factor remains to be investigated in further studies.

SummaryThe objective of this study was to provide a reliable instrument to measure morningness for upcoming studies in French samples, using the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), which has been translated into French. Nursing students (n = 356) completed the questionnaire between February and March 1997. The total score obtained was independent of age and gender, and normally distributed. The reliability was high (Cronbach's α = 0.85), and factorial analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale. Evening-type subjects are thought to score under 31, and morning-type subjects are thought to score above 44. As an external validation, morningness was associated, on weekdays and weekends, with early rising times and bedtimes and early peak times of physical and mental performance. In conclusion, we found that the English and the French versions of the Composite Scale of Morningness gave identical results. The scale is reliable and can be used for French-speaking adult samples. Nevertheless, normative data and other external validity criteria are needed.

Impulsivity is common among adolescents and adults, and can be assessed by specific or personality questionnaires. The clinical evaluation of impulsivity is not easy. The authors report the psychometric characteristics of a recently developed specific seven-item hetero-assessment instrument: the Impulsivity Rating Scale (IRS). Ninety-one 14–16-year-old non-depressed and non-anxious adolescents were interviewed in high schools. While females score higher than males, the total score is independent of Spielberger's Trait-Anxiety. The scale has a good reliability (a = 0.766), and PCA reveals a clear two-factor solution: ‘Lack of control’ and ‘Lack of planification’. There is a moderate convergent validity with the Impulsivity subscale of the EPI. The IRS is a reliable easy-to-use instrument for assessing impulsivity in our sample. Nevertheless, more work is needed to generalize these results to the adolescent population. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

The construct of impulsivity has gained interest in the last decades, and has been developed from different theoretical positions. Among these, the Eysencks proposed a specific self-administered questionnaire (IVE-7) for measuring two components, Impulsiveness (IMP) and Venturesomeness (VENT), which are included within their psychoticism-extraversion-neuroticism (P-E-N) system of personality. In the current study, the IVE-7 was translated into French and back-translated into English. Students filled out the French version, and data were analyzed for males and females separately. The scales reliabilities are similar between languages for IMP and VENT. The exploratory factor analyses revealed two acceptable three-factor solutions, although they failed to clearly identify the third factor. The factor similarity between genders was found very satisfactory using three different methods. The French and English factorial solutions also showed a very good level of similarity in each gender. Finally, the IMP was positively correlated with the Motor Impulsivity subscale of the Barratt Impulsivity Scale-10 (BIS-10) and with Dickman's Dysfunctional Impulsivity scale, and independent of the Spielberger Trait-Anxiety Inventory (TAI). We conclude that IMP and VENT are relatively stable between cultures and can be used reliably in French-speaking samples.

Object – To assess the temporal stability of the French version of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), and to replicate our previous findings in an independent sample in order to confirm the good internal properties of this instrument. Method – Sixty nursing students (11 males and 49 females) filled out the Composite Scale of Morningness on two occasions over a 13-month period. Results – The scale's reliability is high: Cronbach's α = 0.874 in males and 0.904 in females. The CSM total scores are normally distributed and independent of gender. They do not differ between occasions, and are highly correlated: r = +0.885 in males and r = +0.930 in females. Conclusion – The French version of the CSM is stable over time and psychometrically reliable. These are the characteristics of a personality trait. Further studies should explore its personality, biological and genetic correlates.