Impulsivity and delinquent behavior among incarcerated adolescents.

Clinical measures of impulsivity were administered to 33 incarcerated juvenile delinquents; scores were compared to the type and number of crimes committed. The data revealed that impulsivity is a measureable construct among delinquent adolescents, but that impulsiveness is not necessarily related to either type or number of crimes committed. The notion that impulsivity is an integral factor in the etiology of delinquency was not supported by the data.