Neuropsychological differences between violent and nonviolent adolescents

Administered the MMPI and elements of a neuropsychological assessment battery to 40 violent and 40 nonviolent adolescent males (M = 14.6 years). Multivariate analysis showed significant differences between groups on neuropsychological tests, but not on the MMPI. Discriminant function analysis indicated that the neuropsychological assessment had greater power to predict group membership of violent and nonviolent Ss than did the MMPI. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that organic impairment contributes to the impulse dyscontrol and associated violent behavior seen in some delinquent adolescents.     

"Spontaneous remission" of deviant MMPI profiles among college students.

Hypothesized that, if the spontaneous remission phenomenon is genuine rather than an artifact, remission should show a relationship to the length of time elapsed. The MMPI was readministered to a total of 166 clinically-untreated freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who had obtained deviant MMPI profiles at the time of admission to college (9, 21, and 33 mo. earlier, respectively), and had been judged psychiatrically disorded by 2 of 3 MMPI diagnosticians. Ss were evaluated for improvement according to (a) changes in selected scales, (b) changes in a profile elevation score, (c) test-retest comparisons rated blindly for improvement, and (d) shifts from a psychiatric diagnosis to normal on retest. 30 analyses of variance, treating judges and diagnostic categories independently, do not support the hypothesis. (50 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Norms and recidivism rates for the MMPI and selected experimental scales on a Canadian delinquent sample.

Provides norms and recidivism rates on the MMPI and a number of experimental scales for 646 young English-speaking offenders in the province of Ontario. Data gathered in the study confirm a need for an updating of MMPI and selected experimental scale norms on correctional samples. Specific changes in delinquents' MMPI norms are noted and compared to norms gathered on psychiatric samples in Ontario. The adequacy of psychological tests, in particular the MMPI and the selected experimental scales, in predicting recidivism is discussed. At best, the scales in the present study were mediocre predictors of recidivism, and the MMPI fared relatively poorly in comparison to some of the selected experimental scales. (French summary) (40 ref). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What pathological dimensions lie beyond the normal dimensions of the 16 PF? A comparison of MMPI and 16 PF factor domains.

A set of mutually exclusive, exhaustive parcels of MMPI items and the 16 personality factor scales from the Cattell 16 PF were factored together on 217 normal and 40 abnormal adult Air Force men. The analysis of the resulting 64 variables (45 MMPI parcels and 19 16 PF scales) yielded 21 factors, of which 13 are clearly identifiable as factors in the 16 PF and 4 are clearly MMPI factors. MMPI data were scored also for the traditional 14 clinical scales, and their predictability from 16 PF source trials examined in terms of the squared multiple correlations. The 7-factor space typically represented by the MMPI clinical scales was found to lie within the dimensionality of the Cattell 16 PF. The total prediction of the set of MMPI clinical scales from a single form (A) of the 16 PF, uncorrected for attenuation, is represented by the canonical correlation of .8. (47 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of dissimulation on the MMPI by means of the "lie detector."

"The MMPI was administered in group form to approximately 300 undergraduate students. From this group 13 were selected who showed evidence of dissimulation. Nine appeared to be "faking good" and four "faking bad." These 13 Ss were each carefully matched with control Ss who had similar raw-score MMPI profiles with no evidence of dissimulation. All Ss were again given the MMPI while being tested by a Keeler Polygraph. The findings tended to support the value of the validating scales, although many specific hypotheses were not verified in a statistically significant manner. Implications of these findings were discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term stability of MMPI profiles.

Although current use of the MMPI places strong emphasis on the pattern or profile of scores, there is no available evidence as to the short-term stability of the MMPI profile. Therefore, 42 hospital volunteer workers and 40 hospitalized psychiatric patients were retested with the MMPI with mean test-retest intervals of 1.0 and 2.2 days, respectively. Profile stability was measured by computing product-moment correlations for each S's 2 sets of scale scores and by analyzing the rank-order stability of the 3 highest scores. The profile correlations were high, with median correlations of .87 for the patients and .82 for the volunteers. However, there was appreciable instability in the rankings of the 3 highest scores. The implications of the findings for clinical and research use of the MMPI are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI profiles of parishioners seeking pastoral counseling.

The MMPI was administered to 40 parishioners who had sought aid in pastoral counseling and 40 members of the same congregation who had not sought such aid. An attempt was made to control for sex, age, education, and income. Significant differences between these groups were found on 10 out of 12 scales. Using the MMPI as the criterion, the pastoral counseling group appeared to be more disturbed than the control group across a variety of psychological indexes. In view of these findings, a question was raised concerning the adequacy of ministerial training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ability of alcoholics to escape detection by the MMPI.

The ability of two groups of respondents to dissimulate successfully on special alcohol scales and validity measures of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was evaluated. Forty White male alcohol-dependent inpatients and 40 matched nonalcoholic general medical patients each completed the MMPI twice: once under instructions to answer honestly and once under dissimulation instructions. Results showed that, under honest conditions, any of six special alcohol scales had a hit rate of about 80%. In the dissimulation condition, both alcoholic and medical patients were capable of producing significantly more benign profiles on both the general clinical and the special alcohol scales. However, the Positive Malingering (Mp) and Social Desirability (Sd) dissimulation scales were able to detect approximately 80% of the deceptive profiles, whereas others were somewhat less accurate. When the best dissimulation scale (Mp) and the best special alcohol scale (MacAndrew; MAC) were used in this study, only 3 of 40 dissimulating alcoholics were not identified as either alcoholics or dissimulators. Implications for use of the MMPI as an instrument for alcoholism screening are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of improvement in treated and untreated patients using the Rorschach prognostic rating scale.

An attempt was made to evaluate the predictive validity for improvement of the Rorschach Prognostic Rating Scale (RPRS) and the MMPI. A group of untreated psychiatric outpatients (N = 40) and a group of outpatients treated with psychotherapy (N = 21) were given the Rorschach and MMPI before their assignment to the treatment or waiting list groups. After a waiting or treatment period of approximately 6 mo., each patient was clinically rated as improved or unimproved. The RPRS was significantly (p     

Demand characteristic effects on the subtle and obvious subscales of the MMPI

The MMPI was administered to 40 undergraduate students with 20 subjects asked to imagine that they were applying for a job and 20 subjects asked to imagine that they were applying for psychotherapy. Subjects in the job group dissimulated (faked good) and those in the therapy group malingered (faked bad) as evidenced by differences between the subtle and obvious scores. The combined subtle and obvious score was higher for the psychotherapy group. It was concluded that the subtle, obvious, and combined subtle and obvious scores on the MMPI were a function of the demand characteristics of the testing situation.     

Differences in measures of personality and family environment among Black and White alcoholics.

Reviewing 16 studies, D. Pritchard and A. Rosenblatt (see record 1980-11070-001) claimed to find no evidence that the MMPI is racially biased. M. Gynther and S. B. Green (see record 1980-11037-001), reviewing 40 studies, concluded that racial bias in the MMPI varies as a function of sampling, with bias more likely when normal Blacks are compared with normal Whites but not when abnormal groups are compared. The present study compared MMPI scores of 272 White and 56 Black alcoholics. Blacks scored significantly lower on a few scales (e.g., Hysteria), but profile differences were not clinically meaningful, particularly when the covariates of age, education, and socioeconomic status were controlled. Blacks differed appreciably on the Family Environment Scale (FES), however, rating social climates more positively than Whites. Findings that Blacks obtained negligible differences on a wholly White normed test (the MMPI), contrasted with the significant differences and better adjustment shown by Blacks over Whites on a test normed with minority-group representation (the FES), interject new considerations into the issue of racial bias. Whereas nonsignificant differences would not appear to support the contention of racial bias on the MMPI, FES results question whether such nonsignificance actually rules out test bias. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual memory for numerousness in "nonpsychotic schizophrenics."

Conducted an exploratory study on the assumption that a population of nonpsychotic schizophrenics could be identified by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) 2-7-8 code and that these schizophrenics would exhibit the memory deficiencies associated with a thought disorder. 23 elevated MMPI 2-7-8 code and 23 nonelevated code Ss participated in a delayed paired-comparison task. Ss judged whether the 2nd of a pair of dot patterns consisted of "more" or "less" dots than the 1st, and the signal detectability measure of d' was used to evaluate group differences for mnemonic capacity. Elevated Ss' memory strength was inferior to that of the nonelevated group under the conditions in which stimulus encoding was less favorable for abstracting a durable memory trace. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of Faschingbauer's abbreviated MMPI to psychiatric inpatients.

Assessed the degree of interchangeability of an extracted 166-item MMPI developed by T. R. Faschingbauer in 1972 and the standard MMPI, with a sample of 228 psychiatric inpatients. Findings reveal that Faschingbauer's abbreviated MMPI scale and the standard MMPI were markedly similar and highly correlated, indicating that the abbreviated MMPI is a fairly accurate substitute for the MMPI in predicting clinical types. Classification analysis concerning validity showed concurrence between the abbreviated MMPI and the standard-form MMPI in 217 of the Ss. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

FREQUENCY AND CONTENT OF TEST ITEMS NORMALLY OMITTED FROM MMPI SCALES.

FOUND THAT MORE PERSONAL OR "PRIVACY" MMPI ITEMS WERE THOSE MOST FREQUENTLY OMITTED, WHICH CONTRADICTS D. MOSHER'S (SEE 40:6) CONCLUSIONS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Replicated MMPI subtypes for alcoholic men and women: Relationship to self-reported drinking behaviors.

Derived replicated MMPI clusters for 188 inpatient alcoholic males (mean age 40 yrs) and 112 inpatient alcoholic females (mean age 41 yrs) and conducted subsequent MANOVAS with the resulting subtypes for men and women to evaluate differences on an alcohol-use inventory measuring Ss' alcohol expectancies, patterns of use, and drinking consequences. It is noted that shortcomings of previous cluster-analytic research include failure to replicate clusters across separate samples and lack of external measures against which to evaluate the predictive validity of cluster typologies. In the present study, the alcoholic male sample included 94 experimental and 94 replication Ss, while the female sample included 56 experimental and 56 replication Ss. The MMPI was administered to all 150 experimental Ss, and the same MMPI scale scores were obtained from replication Ss' hospital records. The alcohol-use inventory was administered to all 150 experimental Ss. MANOVA revealed significant differences among subtypes of alcoholic women, but relatively poor differentiation among subtypes of men by these measures. Among women, increasing psychopathology on the MMPI was predictive of increasing quantities of alcohol intake and other substance abuse, obsessive preoccupation with alcohol consumption, and affective and physiological disturbances related to drinking consequences. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI–2 typology of pregnant drug-dependent women in treatment.

The present study examined the validity of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2) typology for pregnant drug-dependent women. A 3-cluster solution based on 7 MMPI–2 clinical scales emerged as the best model and was replicated across split-half samples and different primary substance-use diagnoses and treatment modalities. The 3 subtypes identified included Type I (n?=?40, 24%) with no clinical elevation, Type II (n?=?72, 42%) with elevated psychopathic deviate scale, and Type III (n?=?58, 34%) with elevations on all 7 scales. Analyses with interview and self-report measures showed good concurrent validity. Type II had higher retention than Type I and Type III across methadone and medication-free treatments, showing some predictive validity. An a priori method for classifying new cases on the basis of the proposed typology was developed and validated. Study findings support MMPI–2's use with pregnant drug-dependent women for assessment and possibly treatment planning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client introversion and counseling session impact.

Tested the hypothesis that insofar as personal counseling is a social encounter, introverted clients may be expected to experience greater distress in sessions than extraverted clients. This expectation was confirmed in a total of 83 clients (aged 17–39 yrs) in a university clinic who completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) during their treatment and completed a session evaluation questionnaire immediately after their sessions. With differences among counselors statistically controlled, relatively introverted (higher MMPI Social Introversion) clients rated their sessions as relatively uncomfortable, unpleasant, tense, rough, and difficult and rated their postsession mood as relatively unfriendly, uncertain, sad, angry, and afraid. Conversely, relatively gregarious, overactive, extraverted (higher MMPI Hypomania scores) clients rated their sessions as relatively comfortable, pleasant, relaxed, smooth, and easy. It is suggested that client introversion should be incorporated explicitly into counseling theories and should be measured as a possible mediating variable in process and outcome research. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A six-year follow-up study of graduate students in public health education.

Using the predictors available from a study of academic success, how well can future occupational success be predicted? 19 students reported in the Barthol and Kirk study (see 31: 6666) were used as Ss here. The predictors included standardized tests such as the SVIB, MMPI, Concept Mastery Test plus academic rankings. The criterion of job success was psychologists rankings based on a study of work records of the Ss. Although those with the best preparation and MMPI profiles did the best on the ratings for vocational success. Ratings of 3 faculty judges of the academic success of the Ss predicted vocational success most accurately. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4LB40G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)