Most recently, Cyders and Smith (2007) reported construction of an interview assessment of positive urgency, good evidence for convergent validity of positive urgency assessment across methods, and good discriminant validity among the five impulsivity-like traits. They then tested several alternative hierarchical structures to the set of five traits. Using both questionnaire and interview data, they found that the following model best summarized the structure of the five traits: one broad factor called urgency, for which positive and negative urgency were facets; one broad factor identifying deficits in conscientiousness, for which lack of planning and lack of perseverance were facets, and sensation seeking as the third trait. Fit indices for this model, for questionnaire and interview assessments respectively, were CFI = .95, .92; TLI = .93, .90; RMSEA = .08, .07; SRMR = .10, .08. The correlations between measures of positive and negative urgency were r = .49 using questionnaires and r = .46 using interviews. Sample items include, for negative urgency, “When I am upset, I often act without thinking,” and for positive urgency, “I tend to lose control when I am in a great mood.”
