Testing measurement invariance of the UPPS-P impulsive behavior scale in hispanic/latino and non-hispanic/latino college students

The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) PhenX Toolkit has recognized the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale as a recommended measure of impulsive dispositions, as this framework for impulsivity-like traits has demonstrated strong psychometric properties across a variety of samples and exhibited measurement and structural invariance across males and females. Impulsivity-like facets, as assessed by this measure, have also demonstrated robust relations to alcohol and substance use. However, racial and ethnic differences in impulsivity have largely been neglected in the literature. Thus, the current study sought to test measurement invariance on the UPPS-P across Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino college students and determine whether ethnicity moderates the relations between impulsivity-like facets and alcohol and other substance use endorsement. Results indicated that the UPPS-P is invariant between groups in this sample, which suggests that scale scores on this measure can be reliably compared across Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino individuals. There were no significant differences in impulsivity-like facets across groups; however, non-Hispanic/Latino individuals who were higher in sensation seeking exhibited increased log-odds of endorsing past-month smokeless tobacco use. Finally, impulsivity-like facets were significantly and differentially related to substance use outcomes, which support findings from previous studies. This research highlights the importance of examining impulsivity-like traits and substance use among Hispanic/Latino individuals, and provides evidence that the UPPS-P can be reliably and validly interpreted when testing differences between Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino groups.