Assessment of the behavioral inhibition system and the behavioral approach system: adaptation and validation of the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) in a Chilean sample

The goal of the present study is to estimate the psychometric properties of the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ; Torrubia, Avila, Moltó, & Caseras, 2001) in a sample of Chilean college students. The main hypothesis is that the instrument would show appropriate levels of reliability and validity, in light of previous validation studies. A pilot study was conducted in order to generate the adapted version of the questionnaire, which was then applied to a student sample from different undergraduate careers (n = 434). The results show the expected levels of reliability (test-retest and internal consistency). The factorial validity does not comply with the expected model, suggesting a further consideration of the structure of the questionnaire. External validity is appropriate, as the questionnaire shows the expected correlations with other personality measures. It is concluded that the SPSRQ is adequate for the context of validation, and this study contributes to the generalization of the questionnaire, since the results are consistent with the expected psychometric properties that have been reported in the literature.