[Ordalie, sensation-seeking and impulsivity. Critical analysis of definitions]

In the fields of psychology and psychiatry, the use of the terms impulsivity, sensation-seeking and ordalie to refer to risk-taking behaviors can sometimes be confusing.

The objective of this study was to establish a clinical definition of the concepts of ordalie, sensation-seeking and impulsivity, in order to analyze the similarities and differences between these concepts.

We prioritized literature review articles with or without meta-analysis from the Medline database and supplemented with the Google-Scholar database. The articles were included in this review if their objectives were in line with ours. The research was conducted in November 2018.

Twenty-seven articles were selected. There are similarities in the clinical definitions of these concepts with measurable heterogeneous constructions, and an exacerbation in adolescence for engagement in harmful behaviors, but there are also nuances that highlight their differences.

We were able to describe areas of divergence and convergence between these three concepts but not to establish a quantitative diagram of the areas of divergence and convergence. It would seem that the coexistence of sensation-seeking and impulsivity in the same individual could explain that individual's involvement in ordalique behaviors. Further studies approaching this hypothesis would seem useful in terms of preventing risk-taking behaviors such as addictive behaviors.