However, impulsivity is more likely to be present in externalizing disorders, little focus seems to have been made on the research of impulsivity in depression.

On this study, we sought to investigate impulsivity among adolescent with Depressive disorder compared to a control sample.

Employing a matched case-control study, participants included 100 adolescents divided into two groups: 30 adolescents (12 to 17 years) with depressive disorder and a control sample of 70 adolescents. Participants were recruited during a period of 2 years (2015, 2016). Depressive disorder patient were drawn from the consultation unit or inpatient unit of the department of child psychiatry in Sfax, Tunisia. Controls were recruited from two secondary schools and they haven’t depressive symptoms according to the child depression inventory (CDI). Impulsivity was evaluated in the two groups by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), an instrument designed to measure trait impulsivity.

Adolescents with depressive disorder displayed significantly higher total BIS-11 impulsivity scores than controls (71.6 ± 16 vs 61.6 ± 9; P = 0.003). They scored significantly higher than the controls on motor (P = 0.0001) and attentional impulsivity (P = 0.006). There was no difference in non-planning Impulsivity between the two groups. Motor impulsivity was high in adolescents with history of suicide attempt.

Our findings suggest that trait impulsivity is increased among adolescents with depressive disorder. Impulsivity seems to be a risk factor for suicide attempts, so it that should be systematically evaluated in depressive disorder.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.