The study of sensation seeking trait is able to explain several risky behaviors. Considering its relevance and the lack of specific instruments to measure it in Brazil, it was decided to adapt the Arnett Inventory of Sensation. It is composed by 20 items, measuring two factors: novelty and intensity. Participants were 279 high school students of private and public schools from João Pessoa (n=108) and Teresina (n=171). They had mean age of 17 years old, being equally distributed for sex. Using confirmatory factor analysis, four models were tested according to the number of factors (one or two) and items (12 or 20). Results showed that the reduced bifactorial model presented the best fit indices. The factors and the total score of this instrument presented acceptable internal consistency, being correlated with sex and age. These results justify the use of this instrument in subsequent studies.
Sensation seeking; Personality; Inventory; Validity; Factor analysis
