A comparison of methods of scoring the MMPI-168.

Three methods of converting raw scores from the 168-item short form of the MMPI to their long-form equivalents were compared using samples of 1,258 normals and 1,181 psychiatric inpatients. A set of conversion equations to be used in future research is proposed on the basis of these comparisons. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure of the MMPI-168 in a psychiatric population.

Administered the 1st 168 items of the MMPI to 505 psychiatric patients. Factor analysis of the resulting data identified factors of Somatization, Depression, Psychotic Distortion, Low Morale, and Acting Out, plus a separate Masculinity-Femininity factor. Results compare favorably with those from the technically best of the item-level analyses of the complete MMPI that have been reported by others. Factor scoring keys that can be used with an abbreviated short-form administration are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical comparability of the standard MMPI and the MMPI-168.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 17(5) of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (see record 2008-10955-002). In this article, the copyright information was incorrect. The corrected copyright information is included in the erratum.] Examined the clinical correspondence of the full-scale Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the MMPI-168 on a psychiatric screening sample of 210 men (mean age 43.27 yrs). The present results fail to replicate previous optimistic findings regarding the worth of the MMPI-168 and accent the need for caution in any further use of this abbreviated instrument. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Criterion-related diagnostic validity and test-retest reliability of the MMPI-168(L) in mentally retarded adolescents and adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of serum antibody levels to Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis with age, gender and smoking in an elderly population. The study population comprised all the inhabitants aged 65 years or over in a rural municipality in south-western Finland. Serum samples were obtained from 1,174 out of a total of 1,360 subjects. Bacterial antibodies were measured by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using pneumolysin and whole bacterial cells of H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis (mixture of 10 different strains for both) as antigens. The main findings were as follows: (i) antibody levels generally decreased with increasing age both in men and in women; (ii) antibody titres against H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis were higher in men than in women; and (iii) antibody titres to H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis, but not to S. pneumoniae, were significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers. These data suggest that antibody-mediated protection against respiratory pathogens may be impaired in the elderly, leading to a higher susceptibility to respiratory tract infections, that the exposure to H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis may be higher in men than in women, and that smokers have more respiratory infections or colonization due to these 2 bacteria than do non-smokers.     

Predominant MMPI-168 profile clusters in a rehabilitation medicine sample.

Conducted cluster analyses of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-168 (MMPI-168) profiles of 46 female and 74 male rehabilitation medicine inpatients (aged 18–75 yrs), using a minimum-variance method, and identified 4 clusters of patient similarities. Relationships were tested between cluster membership and gender, age of disability onset, time since onset, and diagnosis. The profile of mean MMPI-168 scores for the largest cluster, representing about one-half of the total sample, showed no clinical elevations on any scale. The remaining 3 clusters were characterized primarily by depression, somatic focusing, and personality disorganization, respectively. Discriminant analysis supported the differentiation among clusters in terms of MMPI-168 scores and suggested that ruminative worry and openness to identifying problems accounted for the majority of the differentiation. With the exception of the cluster characterized primarily by depression, the 3 remaining clusters seemed similar to profile types consistently found in research on chronic pain samples. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity of MMPI-2 validity scales to underreporting of symptoms.

Standard and supplementary scales designed to detect underreporting of symptoms on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (S. R. Hathaway & J. C. McKinley, 1983) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2; J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989) were investigated in two groups of participants. Fifty individuals who completed the MMPI-2 under a fake-good instruction set were compared to 50 matched individuals who completed it under the standard instructions. Fake-good participants scored significantly higher than standard participants on all underreporting scales. Effect sizes showed that fake good participants differed from standard participants by nearly 2 SD on the average. Hierarchical regression and discriminant function analyses suggested that two supplementary underreporting scales, J. S. Wiggins's (1959) Social Desirability Scale and the Superlative Scale (J. N. Butcher & K. Han, 1993), have significant incremental validity over the traditional L and K scales in discriminating standard from underreported profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI-168 factor structure: A replication with public mental health patients.

Separate analyses of 5-, 6-, and 7-factor solutions for the 1st 168 MMPI item responses from a large (2,116) unselected sample of public mental health patients revealed close correspondence with the 6 factors derived by J. E. Overall et al (1973). The 7-factor solution, however, did provide some help in clarifying the psychological significance and differentiation of the factors involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of the MMPI-168 to outcome of a pain management program at long-term follow-up.

Evaluated a shorter form of the MMPI, the MMPI-168, as a predictor of long-term outcome (6 mo to 3 yrs postdischarge) of an inpatient pain management program involving 40 chronic pain patients. Rules for both standard-scale and factor-scale interpretations correctly identified 79% of pain program "successes" and "failures." Results provide support for the MMPI-168 as a brief, useful measure of personality functioning in a physical medicine setting. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of overreported psychopathology with the MMPI-2 RF form validity scales.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 23(1) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2011-01446-001). There was an error in the title. The title should have read “Detection of Overreported Psychopathology With the MMPI-2-RF Validity Scales.”] [Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Psychological Assessment (see record 2011-01446-001). There was an error in the title. The title should have read “Detection of Overreported Psychopathology With the MMPI-2-RF Validity Scales.”] We examined the utility of the validity scales on the recently released Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2 RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008) to detect overreported psychopathology. This set of validity scales includes a newly developed scale and revised versions of the original MMPI-2 validity scales. We used an analogue, experimental simulation in which MMPI-2 RF responses (derived from archived MMPI-2 protocols) of undergraduate students instructed to overreport psychopathology (in either a coached or noncoached condition) were compared with those of psychiatric inpatients who completed the MMPI-2 under standardized instructions. The MMPI-2 RF validity scale Infrequent Psychopathology Responses best differentiated the simulation groups from the sample of patients, regardless of experimental condition. No other validity scale added consistent incremental predictive utility to Infrequent Psychopathology Responses in distinguishing the simulation groups from the sample of patients. Classification accuracy statistics confirmed the recommended cut scores in the MMPI-2 RF manual (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incremental validity of the MMPI-2 content scales in an outpatient mental health setting.

The incremental validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 Content Scales (MMPI—2; J. N. Butcher, J. R. Graham, C. L. Williams, & Y. S. Ben-Porath, 1990) was examined using clinical and content scale scores to predict conceptually relevant symptoms and personality characteristics of 274 male and 425 female mental health center outpatients. Regression analyses were performed to determine if the content scales contributed significantly beyond the conceptually relevant clinical scales in predicting therapists' ratings. Of the 10 content scales analyzed, incremental validity was demonstrated for 7 scales for men and 3 scales for women. A 2nd set of analyses indicated that incremental validity was demonstrated for 4 clinical scales for men and 6 clinical scales for women. The findings provide further evidence that the content scales aid interpretation of MMPI—2 scores by contributing additional information beyond the clinical scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity of MMPI-2 validity scales to random responding and malingering.

Explored the effects of both random responding and malingering on the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in an analog design using 4 groups of college students. One group completed the entire answer sheet randomly, a 2nd group was instructed to malinger a moderate psychological disturbance, a 3rd group was asked to simulate a severe disturbance, and a 4th group was given standard test instructions. Results showed that MMPI-2 validity scales were sensitive to these response sets: Both random and malingered responses produced significant elevations on F and Fb, whereas only random responding led to significant elevations on VRIN. These results indicated that the source of an elevated F scale may be clarified by referring to VRIN, as VRIN was significantly elevated only in the random response group. Thus, a high F scale score combined with a high VRIN scale score strongly suggests the possibility of random responding. In addition, scores on both F–K and Ds2 (the items remaining from the MMPI Dissimulation scale) increased significantly as degree of simulated disturbance increased. Thus, Ds2 appeared to have sufficient promise as a validity scale to merit further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of MMPI-2 validity in African American and Caucasian psychiatric inpatients.

This study investigated ethnic differences on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPT-2) in 229 African American and 1,558 Caucasian psychiatric inpatients. Mean differences were found on several MMPI-2 validity and clinical scales. These were generally consistent with differences between the groups, indicated by the available extratest criterion data. To identify potential bias, the authors conducted 65 step-down hierarchical multiple regression analyses, predicting conceptually relevant clinical criteria from either MMPI-2 clinical or content scales for each gender. A number of MMPI-2 scales evidenced bias reflecting minor underprediction of psychopathology in African Americans. It is important to note that, in almost all cases, the magnitude of these differences was small and not clinically significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term validity of a personal history item scoring procedure.

The proposed "Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures" suggest the need to evaluate the life span of selection instrument scoring procedures under changing labor market and job situations. The present study investigated the long-term validity of a personal history item scoring key developed on a 1933 sample of 10,111 life insurance agents and reevaluated on a 1939 sample of 857 agents and a 1969–1971 sample of 14,738 agents. Results, presented in expectancy table format, indicate that over the 6-yr and 38-yr cross-validation periods, little, if any, validity was lost. This was true despite drastic labor market and economic changes as well as dramatic changes in the job itself. The apparent conflict of these results with those reported in other long-term validity studies is attributed to the impact of scoring key confidentiality, test maintenance, and adequate developmental sample size. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The utility and comparative incremental validity of the MMPI-2 and Trauma symptom Inventory validity scales in the detection of feigned PTSD.

The authors examined the comparative predictive capacity of the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) Atypical Response Scale (ATR) and the standard set of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) fake-bad validity scales (i.e., F, FB, Fp, FBS) to detect feigned posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Remitted trauma victims (n = 60) completed the TSI and MMPI-2 under standard (honest) instructions and then were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental conditions (noncoached/validity scale coached) in which they were administered these instruments again with instruction to fake PTSD. These test protocols were compared with TSI and MMPI-2 results from workplace injury claimants with PTSD (n = 84). The ATR and FBS were able to distinguish only the noncoached participants instructed to fake from the PTSD claimants; in contrast, the F, FB, and Fp scales were able to distinguish both the noncoached and the validity-scale-coached participants from the PTSD claimants. F, FB, and Fp always outperformed the ATR and FBS; neither the ATR nor the FBS was able to add incremental predictive variance to that of F, FB, or Fp. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary: Reliability and validity of uniqueness scoring in creativity assessment.

Commentary on an article by P. J. Silvia et al. (see record 2008-05954-001) which discusses the topic of divergent thinking. In Study 1, Silvia et al. (2008) criticized the uniqueness scoring of Wallach and Kogan (1965). The uniqueness scoring has a virtue that single rater may be enough to rate, and it is characterized by the assignment of points to uncommon responses in a pool of sample's responses. The first criticism for uniqueness scoring is that uniqueness scores increase as a subject produces more responses, resulting in confounding of uniqueness and fluency. The second criticism relates to the ambiguity of statistical rarity pursued by uniqueness scoring in that uniqueness does not guarantee creativity. When a mundane unique response is misperceived as creative, reliability is threatened. Some bizarre, grotesque, or inappropriate responses in the pool of responses may be assigned a point, causing the validity to be threatened. The third criticism raised by the authors is that the uniqueness scoring system penalizes large samples in that it is less probable for a response in a larger sample of people to appear unique. However, the subjective scoring system has other deficits and is never free from the first two criticisms. The third criticism is, however unfounded; rather, the uniqueness scoring system is in a better position to capture the construct of creativity through better accessibility to large samples. The authors' (Silvia et al., 2008) three criticisms will be discussed one by one. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The MMPI-2 considered in the contexts of personality theory, external validity, and clinical utility.

The MMPI-2 promises to be a substantial improvement over its predecessor and is a major contribution to the field of personality assessment. Much of the former research and the clinical experience that one has accumulated over the years will continue to be applicable to the MMPI-2. The author is somewhat surprised that the revision of the basic scales was not a more substantive one. Based on the research literature, psychometric considerations, and clinical needs, a more fundamental revision may have been appropriate. Improvements in and possible limitations in the MMPI-2 are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the Wiener-Harmon Subtle-Obvious scales and the standard validity scales in detecting valid and invalid MMPI-2 profiles.

The validity of the Wiener-Harmon Subtle–Obvious (S-O) scales has been widely debated despite increasing evidence suggesting that the scales have limited clinical utility. This study used valid Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) profiles of 49 psychiatric patients and profiles generated by 105 college students under fake-bad, fake-good, and standard instructions to examine whether the S-O scales can correctly classify faked and honest profiles. The S-O scales correctly classified high percentages of profiles, but further analyses showed that they added no information to that provided by L and F in classifying fake-bad, fake-good, and honest profiles. But other analyses showed that L and F provided substantial information not given by the S-O scales. The study also observed the paradoxical effect under the fake-good instructions and reported evidence suggesting that a naysaying response bias is a cogent explanation of the effect. The authors concluded that the standard validity scales appear to be more useful than the S-O scales in identifying faked profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of back random responding: Effectiveness of MMPI-2 and Personality Assessment Inventory validity indices.

Two experiments examined the detection and effects of back random responding (BRR) on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). Experiment 1 revealed that MMPI-2 Clinical and Content scales were relatively resistant to the effects of BRR. Fb--F ≥ 20T was the most effective index for identifying invalid protocols. Experiment 2 revealed greater susceptibility of the PAI interpretive scales to the effects of BRR and less successful detection of BRR. The most effective PAI validity index was the combined indicator, ICN ≥ at 73T or INF ≥ 75T. Clinical and empirical implications of these findings are discussed, and tentative modifications to the MMPI-2 interpretative guidelines are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of the MMPI-2 in American Indians: I. Comparability of the MMPI-2 Between Two Tribes and With the MMPI-2 Normative Group.

The comparability of the MMPI-2 in American Indians with the MMPI-2 normative group was investigated in a sample of 535 Southwestern and 297 Plains American Indian tribal members with contrasting sociocultural and historical origins. Both American Indian tribal groups had clinically significant higher T scores (>5 T points) on 5 validity and clinical scales, 6 content scales, and 2 supplementary scales than did the MMPI-2 normative group. There were no significant differences between the 2 tribal groups on any of the MMPI-2 clinical, content, or supplementary scales. Matching members of both tribes with persons in the MMPI-2 normative group on the basis of age, gender, and education reduced the magnitude of the differences between the 2 groups on all of these scales, although the differences in T scores still exceeded 5 T points. It appears likely that the MMPI-2 differences of these 2 American Indian groups from the normative group may reflect their adverse historical, social, and economic conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Productivity improvement through cultural focus.

Presents a comprehensive model for organizational effectiveness and productivity that is labeled as balanced integrity. The model presents the concepts of 4 core cultures: control, collaboration, competence, and cultivation, which are universal, naturalistic expressions of organizational culture. It is argued that it is far more effective for leaders and organizations to identify their organization's core culture, to build on the inherent strengths of that core culture, and to keep striving for more alignment, balance, and completeness. An example of an actual consulting application of this model is presented for illustration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)