A unidimensional depression scale for the MMPI.

To develop a depression scale that differentiates consistently not only between normal and abnormal samples but also within such samples, items from the MMPI D scale were selected on the basis of consistent relationship to the major dimension or factor underlying the 60 items as determined by a contextual analysis of responses in each of 4 normative samples of 40 Ss (normal and abnormal divided also by sex). The final 30-item scale, called the D30 scale, showed greatly improved within-group distinctions, particularly among normals, dimensionality coefficients (rd) of .97, .95, and .98 being obtained in cross validation in contrast to values of .67, .45, and .87 for the original. Split-half reliability showed improvement despite shorter length, and test-retest estimates in 2 normal samples were .88 and .92. Since part-whole correlations indicated that D30 scale scores account for the systematic differences in scores on the 60-item scale, the D30 scale was recommended for general use in lieu of the original. T score norms based on 424 Ss were presented and scale content discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors and clusters for the Brazelton Scale: An investigation of the dimensions of neonatal behavior.

B. M. Lester et al (see record 1982-28799-001) proposed a set of 7 a priori clusters (e.g., orientation and Reflexes) for reducing data from the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. In the present study, the distributional and psychometric properties of these clusters were examined in 162 neonates. The distributions of 5 clusters were reasonably normal, but 2 were significantly positively skewed. The 2 clusters whose items were recoded so that midrange optimal scores would be high and extreme scores low exhibited poor internal consistency. In addition, 3 clusters contained some items that were only weakly related to others in their respective clusters. A revised set of clusters was constructed based on data from 6 independent samples. The revised clusters exhibited greater internal consistency than the Lester clusters, comparable or stronger test–retest reliability, and a greater degree of orthogonality. The 2 sets of clusters performed similarly in 4 tests of concurrent validity that used examiner persistence, general irritability, birthweight, and gestational age as criterion variable. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor analysis of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.

Factor-analyzed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), which conceptualizes masculinity and femininity as 2 independent dimensions rather than using the traditional notion of a single bipolar dimension. BSRI scores from 253 male and female industrial workers, 36 police officers, and 36 nonworking housewives were analyzed. 4 factors were defined: Masculinity, Femininity, Sex of S, and "Mature" Neutral. Since a few "masculine" and "feminine" items from the original version of the BSRI did not load on either factor, a revision of the scale to exclude these items is recommended. However, the results support the contention that masculinity and femininity are more reasonably considered as independent traits rather than as a single bipolar dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Middle class bias in personality testing.

"The higher neurotic tendency scores obtained by the working class on the Bernreuter were found to be accounted for by a third of the inventory items. These items were found to be biased in one of the following ways: (a) they reflected middle-class values, mostly middle-class masculine values… ; (b) their connotations were sufficiently obvious to allow the middle class to benefit from their greater test motivation. We conclude that working-class scores on the inventory are spuriously high." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ambiguity in the MMPI.

MMPI items were rated for ambiguity on a 5-point scale and were also answered under standard instructions by male and female introductory psychology students. Lower ambiguity ratings of female Ss were interpreted in terms of role or habit patterns of females in our culture. Mean ambiguity values for selected MMPI scales revealed high ambiguity for both sexes, independent of order effects, for items keyed on the K, Pd, Pt, Ma, and Welsh A scales, and low ambiguity for items on the L, F, Hs, Mf, and Welsh R scales. Significant intercorrelations were found between total ambiguity scores of individual Ss and scores on Hs, Si, and Sc, with a negative relationship between ambiguity and K. These results suggest a relationship between ego control and perceived ambiguity in the items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note of caution on the factor analysis of the MMPI.

Although the dangers associated with factoring test scales containing overlapping items (items used on more than 1 scale) have been pointed out by Guilford (1952), factor studies of scales embodying item overlap continue. The present study explores the possibility that the neurotic triad and the psychotic triad or tetrad factors found in 4 studies derive from the existence of a methodological artifact associated with item overlap. To test this possibility, MMPI interscale common-element correlations (produced solely by item overlap) were factor analyzed. 2 of 3 factors extracted are highly similar to neurotic triad and psychotic triad or tetrad factors found for 4 samples. These 2 factors do not appear in a factor analysis of truncated (overlap items removed) MMPI scale scores. Since the overlap factors are based solely on the scale intercorrelations due to overlap items, these results appear to support Guilford's warning and open to question the legitimacy of these MMPI factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a brief self-report measure of trauma exposure: The Trauma History Screen.

Although information about individuals' exposure to highly stressful events such as traumatic stressors is often very useful for clinicians and researchers, available measures are too long and complex for use in many settings. The Trauma History Screen (THS) was developed to provide a very brief and easy-to-complete self-report measure of exposure to high magnitude stressor (HMS) events and of events associated with significant and persisting posttraumatic distress (PPD). The measure assesses the frequency of HMS and PPD events, and it provides detailed information about PPD events. Test–retest reliability was studied in four samples, and temporal stability was good to excellent for items and trauma types and excellent for overall HMS and PPD scores. Comprehensibility of items was supported by expert ratings of how well items appeared to be understood by participants with relatively low reading levels. In five samples, construct validity was supported by findings of strong convergent validity with a longer measure of trauma exposure and by correlations of HMS and PPD scores with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The psychometric properties of the THS appear to be comparable or better than longer and more complex measures of trauma exposure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of Perceptual Maturity Scale using figure preferences.

An attempt to develop a brief, objectively scored Perceptual Maturity Scale (PMS) to measure attributes similar to Rorschach genetic maturity scores is described. The PMS contains 72 paired items from the Welsh Figure Preference Test. Item analysis of child versus adult preferences was the basis of scale construction. Reliability is .90. Construct validity was shown by a positive relationship between PMS scores and chronological age from age 7 to adulthood. Using such criteria as teachers' ratings, psychiatric institutional status, and questionnaire scores, groups displaying behavioral immaturity obtained significantly lower PMS scores than matched age controls. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale.

The authors examined the factor structure of the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale (MNWS) using confirmatory factor analysis in 3 clinical research samples of smokers trying to quit (N = 723). Three confirmatory factor analytic models, based on previous research, were tested with each of the 3 study samples at multiple points in time. A unidimensional model including all 8 MNWS items was found to be the best explanation of the data. This model produced fair to good internal consistency estimates. Additionally, these data revealed that craving should be included in the total score of the MNWS. Factor scores derived from this single-factor, 8-item model showed that increases in withdrawal were associated with poor smoking outcome for 2 of the clinical studies. Confirmatory factor analyses of change scores showed that the MNWS symptoms cohere as a syndrome over time. Future investigators should report a total score using all of the items from the MNWS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does socioeconomic status explain the relationship between admissions tests and post-secondary academic performance?

Critics of educational admissions tests assert that tests measure nothing more than socioeconomic status (SES) and that their apparent validity in predicting academic performance is an artifact of SES. The authors examined multiple large data sets containing data on admissions and related tests, SES, and grades showing that (a) SES is related to test scores (r = .42 among the population of SAT takers), (b) test scores are predictive of academic performance, and (c) statistically controlling for SES reduces the estimated test?grade correlation from r = .47 to r = .44. Thus, the vast majority of the test?academic performance relationship was independent of SES: The authors concluded that the test?grade relationship is not an artifact of common influences of SES on both test scores and grades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct revalidation of a forced-choice rating form.

A forced-choice rating form was revalidated by using a type of construct validation based on the hypothesis that a manager's effectiveness is reflected in the performance level of his subordinates. 11 plant managers were ranked on overall effectiveness by 3 independent judges, and the relationship between these rankings and the average performance report scores of 142 first-line supervisors in the respective plants was determined by analysis of variance and correlation techniques. Results showed a significant overall relationship between plant-manager rankings and production-supervisor scores on the forced-choice form (p = .005) and significant correlations on 2 of the 6 subscales, with the highest relationship apparent in the Human Relations area (p = .025). The findings support the hypothesis of a relationship between management effectiveness and subordinate performance, and provide evidence to indicate continued validity of the rating instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item analyses of age relations on reasoning tests.

Analyses at the level of individual items were conducted on 11 data sets representing various combinations of participant samples and tests of reasoning. The magnitude of the relations between age and solution accuracy did not vary systematically across a wide range of item difficulty, although there was some evidence for independent age-related influences on the more difficult items. The results were tentatively interpreted as reflecting the operation of at least 2 types of age-related effects on tests reasoning, 1 common to all items and 1 sensitive to the greater processing demands associated with more difficult items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An easier "male" mechanical test for use with women.

"Examination of mechanical test data for male and female recruits suggested that a more valid test for use with enlisted women in the Navy might be constructed with items concerned with 'male' mechanical activities, but at a difficulty level appropriate for female recruits. By selecting on the basis of item characteristics, 52 items were chosen from the 100 in the Basic Test Battery Mechanical Test. Using as a criterion the scores from the Breech Block Performance Test (a measure of ability to learn mechanical-motor skills), the validity of the new 'easier' 52-item test was found to be .47 as compared with .39 for the original 100-item test." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Inability to predict cardiovascular disease from hostility scores or MMPI items related to Type A behavior": Correction to Leon et al.

Reports an error in "Inability to predict cardiovascular disease from hostility scores or MMPI items related to Type A behavior" by Gloria R. Leon, Stephen E. Finn, David Murray and John M. Bailey (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1988[Aug], Vol 56[4], 597-600). In the aforementioned article, the mean Ho scores are incorrect. For Group 1, M = 16.0 (SD = 7.3); Group 2, M = 15.3 (SD = 6.7); Group 3, M = 15.2 (SD = 7.2). Page 600, paragraph 2 is no longer relevant. All other analyses and all conclusions are correct as reported. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1989-05707-001.) Medical and psychological data collected for 30 years on a group of 280 men (mean age in 1947=45 years) were evaluated to identify the personality characteristics and attitudes that might be predictive of the later development of coronary heart disease (CHD). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Hostility scores did not predict CHD in this population. A 35-item scale derived from MMPI items judged to reflect the Type A construct and from other personality scales did not predict the later incidence of myocardial infarctions or other evidence of CHD. It is therefore possible that personality factors may not be strong predictors of CHD in particular samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of interests and self-efficiency expectations: An expanded examination of the spherical model of interests.

A questionnaire packet assessing occupational preferences, activity preferences, and career self-efficacy expectations was administered to 2 samples of college students. The structural invariance of each data set (activity, self-efficacy, and occupation items) was examined for the 1st sample via principal-components analysis and they correlated. The structure was found to be highly similar across data types. The items were then aggregated into 18 scales representing the spherical model of interests proposed by T. J. G. Tracey and J. Rounds (1996b). The 18 scales were found to fit the spherical model for both the original and validation samples. No gender differences in the structure of the scales were found, but there were gender mean differences found in the scale scores similar to results of past research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factoring items and factoring scales are different: Spurious evidence for multidimensionality due to item categorization.

Illustrates how categorization spuriously influences apparent dimensionality inferred from (a) principal components (PC), (b) exploratory maximum likelihood (EML) analysis, and (c) {lisrel}. Simulated continuous, parallel, unifactor "scores," of differing reliability, were categorized in various ways to create "items." All forms of categorization spuriously suggested multidimensionality. PC-based indices were more misleading with less reliable data; the reverse was true with inferential (EML and {lisrel}) indices. Varying item "splits" to create item distribution differences further enhanced these spurious effects. Likewise, multicategory (Likert-type) items were more likely to yield artifacts than dichotomous items using inferential criteria even though the multicategory data were more reliable. Criteria for dimensionality applicable to continuous (scale-level) data are therefore inappropriate for discrete (item-level) data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of depression in adolescents using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

Operating characteristics of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were examined by using data from 4 samples of students in Grades 9–12. The CES-D was found to have good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Dimensionality was comparable to that found for adults. Structure varied little by order of assessment (Trial 1 of Trial 2), age, or gender. Salience of items, in terms of rank order of mean item scores, was remarkably similar to that reported for college and general adult samples. With the standard cutoff score of 16 or more, half of the high school students were classified as depressed. There was a pronounced gender effect, with proportionately more women reporting depressive symptoms across the 4 samples. Although it appears that the CES-D scale may be appropriate for use with adolescents, the issues of stability of scores over time, appropriate cutoff scores, and usefulness in detecting cases of clinical depression remain unresolved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory scores and scores on certain scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

"The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was administered to two groups of… teachers at opposite extremes of the distribution of scores for the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory. Differences in mean scores of the two groups on the clerical scales of the MMPI, with and without the K correction and on 'subtle' and 'obvious' items scored separately, and differences in frequencies of different codings of profiles were analyzed." Several differences on MMPI scales between teachers scoring high on the MTAI and those scoring low on the MTAI seemed to be significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word-association commonality: A standardized test and a theory.

The Verdun association list (VAL) is a word-association test with stimulus words selected to elicit a high frequency of common responses among normal adults. Commonality, reaction time, and response stability measures are incorporated in the test. Standardization was based on 2 independent, representative metropolitan samples of normal employed adults—575 Ss in all. Validation groups consisted of (1) 2 independent samples each comprising 100 working and 100 nonworking hospitalized mental patients; (2) all 15 psychiatric patients, some working and some not, who attended the night treatment center of a general hospital over a 2-mo period, and (3) the 44 Canadian Army volunteers at 1 induction session at a recruitment center who were rejected as unfit for military service on various nonphysical grounds. The high agreement between cut-off scores and all external criteria suggested that the VAL could be effective in a wide variety of industrial, clinical, and experimental settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing How Much Couples Work at Their Relationship: The Behavioral Self-Regulation for Effective Relationships Scale.

It is widely believed that satisfying couple relationships require work by the partners. The authors equated the concept of work to relationship self-regulation and developed a scale to assess this construct. A factor analysis of the scale in a sample of 187 newlywed couples showed it comprised 2 factors of relationship strategies and effort. The factor structure was replicated in an independent sample of 97 newlywed couples. In both samples the scale had good internal consistency and high convergent validity between self- and partner-report forms. Self-regulation accounted for substantial variance in relationship satisfaction in both newlywed samples and in a 3rd sample of 61 long-married couples. The self-regulation and satisfaction association was independent of mood or self-report common method variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)