Personality characteristics found among youthful female suicide attempters.

Administered the EPPS and a questionnaire assessing personality and status characteristics and frequency of suicidal thought to 20 18-25 yr old female college students with histories of one or more suicide attempts and to 2 groups of 50 similar Ss each selected on the basis of frequency of suicidal thought, but with no history of suicide attempts. High affiliative, succorant, and nurturant needs, an inability to tolerate frustration, and a tendency toward externalized aggression appeared to characterize the Ss who had attempted suicide. Specifically, high succorant needs, interacting with an inability to reach significant others, appeared to distinguish those Ss who frequently thought about suicide from those who actually attempted it. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and status profiles of peer counselors and suicide attempters.

3 groups of 20 female college students-peer counselors, suicide attempters, and a control group of nonsuicidal Ss-were compared for personality characteristics and family background, using the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule and a questionnaire. The control group consisted of Ss who thought about suicide frequently, but had never attempted it (high thinkers) and Ss who thought about suicide infrequently or not at all (low thinkers). The peer counselors presented a personality profile similar to high thinkers or attempters, but they thought about suicide infrequently, and unlike the attempters, they had more stable family backgrounds and showed more adaptive modes on the behavioral items measured. Peer counselors are therefore regarded as especially effective helpers for suicide attempters. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory correlates of dysphasic language disturbances.

Compared the MMPI performances of 15 male dysphasic brain-damaged adults with the performances of 15 matched control brain-damaged Ss without specific language impairment. A significant overall difference on the 9 clinical scales combined was shown by multivariate analysis, with higher scores obtained by dysphasic Ss. Further univariate analysis showed significantly higher scores on the Pd and Sc scales. Results are discussed in terms of (a) evidence for a closer relation between MMPI variables and behavioral measures than between MMPI variables and neurological measures of lesion laterality, and (b) the interpretive limitations implied by uncritical transference of MMPI findings based on psychiatric patients and normals to patients with central nervous system lesions. The need for validation studies investigating social behavior correlates of MMPI results in brain-damaged samples is emphasized. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles among subgroups of unwed mothers.

To identify replicable homogeneous subgroups among 3 samples of unwed mothers (mean ages, 18.8 and 19.4 yrs), a multivariate clustering technique was employed to analyze the MMPI responses of unwed mothers giving up their babies for adoption (ns = 122 and 127) and unwed mothers deciding to keep their babies (n = 47). Three personality subgroups or types were identified in all 3 samples. Univariate F ratios showed that the 3 subgroups differed on 11 of the 12 MMPI scales. The 3 personality subgroups are discussed in terms of their differences along a general maladjustment dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical limitations of three Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory short forms.

Compared 3 MMPI short forms, the Mini-Mult, T. Faschingbauer's 166, and the MMPI-168, which were constructed by different methodologies, using 1,028 male psychiatric patients as Ss. Although the short- to standard-form correlations for all 3 short forms were generally high (ranging from .74 to .96 for the MMPI scales), the success in accurately predicting the code type was quite low. The hit rates in predicting to the 58 code types used in the study were 36.7% for the Mini-Mult, 40.4% for the MMPI-168, and 49.4% for Faschingbauer's 166 form. An analysis of false positive and false negative test misses showed further weaknesses in MMPI short forms. Results question the use of MMPI short forms for clinical interpretation based on usual profile interpretation procedures (code-type analysis). (25 ref) (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)     

Cognitive characteristics of suicide attempters.

Contrasted cognitive characteristics of rigidity, impulsivity, and field dependence in a group of 49 19–59 yr old suicide attempters and a group of 48 19–64 yr old nonsuicidal psychiatric controls. All Ss were administered the same test battery consisting of the Embedded Figures Test, the Alternate Uses Test, and the Matching Familiar Figures Test. The suicide attempt group was characterized by greater rigidity in a divergent thinking task while controlling for age and diagnosis using multivariate analysis. Field dependence was more characteristic of the suicide attempters, but only in the 19–34 age group. Impulsivity did not differentiate the 2 groups. The results are interpreted as supporting a hypothesis of a cognitive predisposition to attempting suicide. (1 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament characteristics of suicide attempters.

Administered temperament assessment measures to 45 suicide attempters (aged 15–67 yrs) to test the hypothesis that suicide attempters have arousable and submissive temperaments. Data support the hypothesis. A significant positive correlation between lethality of the suicide attempt and trait arousability reinforced the importance of high arousability as a temperament characteristic of suicide attempters. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk taking among suicide attempters.

Investigated the risk-taking nature of suicide attempts and determined if attempters have a high propensity to gamble on an experimental risk-taking procedure. 102 suicide attempters and 102 controls matched on sex, age, racial ethnic status, and education were Ss. Results show that (a) attempters took more risks than matched controls, (b) attempters whose suicide actions were judged to be gambles also took more experimental risks than nongambling attempters, and (c) a majority of suicide attempts were characterized by risk-taking behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autobiographical memory in suicide attempters.

Examined both hedonic and nonhedonic aspects of autobiographical memory in 25 patients (mean age 31 yrs) who had recently attempted suicide by overdose, 25 hospital patients (clinical nonoverdose controls), and 25 Ss recruited from the authors' S panel (panel controls). Ss completed the Profile of Mood States, an autobiographical memory test, and semantic memory tasks. Results indicate that attempted-suicide Ss, who were required to retrieve specific personal memories to positive or negative cue words, showed biased retrieval when their performance was compared with that of control groups, but the bias was due to delayed retrieval of positive memories rather than to speeded retrieval of negative memories. At least part of this effect was due to inappropriate retrieval strategies that yielded general, rather than specific, memories in the overdose group, a finding that may have implications for associative network models of emotional memory. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Mini-Mult with drug users.

Data from 60 male drug addicts and users support previous findings that when correlations between corresponding MMPI and Mini-Mult scales are used, there is good correspondence; however, there is low accuracy with respect to clinical evaluation and high-point correspondence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory correlates of lateralized cerebral lesions and aphasic deficits.

Investigated the emotional adjustment of right-handed male brain-damaged patients as a function of (a) the hemispheric location of the lesion and (b) the degree of aphasia as measured by the Halstead-Wepman Aphasia Screening Test. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of 35 Ss (mean age 52.3 yrs) with right-hemisphere lesions were compared with those of 25 Ss (mean age 49.7 yrs) with left-hemisphere lesions. Both samples produced similar composite profiles that indicated the presence of mild dysphoria, dissatisfaction, withdrawal, decreased initiative, and mild somatic preoccupations. Within the left-hemisphere-damaged group, significant correlations emerged between the degree of aphasic disability and MMPI Validity, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia scales. When the variance in MMPI scores due to premorbid status (education) was partialled out, however, these correlations were nonsignificant. Findings fail to support the widely held association of speech-related deficits with psychopathology. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory indicator of psychological distress in male students.

Investigated the relationship of moderately elevated MMPI Scales 2 and 7 (Depression and Psychasthenia) to psychological help seeking, problem type, and academic progress for 4 successive classes at a small selective men's college. 21% of 755 entering students had both scales elevated (T?≥?60); these students were significantly more likely to seek psychological counseling, tended to have personal rather than other types of problems, and were more likely to take leaves of absence. Results suggest the MMPI 2-7 elevation is a simple indicator of psychological distress in the setting studied, but its utility in other college settings requires consideration of local base rates for psychological help and test results. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-behavior factor correlates of Personality Inventory for Children profile scales.

Investigated the relationships between empirically determined dimensions of problem behaviors and the profile scales of the Personality Inventory for Children, a multidimensional objective personality inventory. Behavior problems and family characteristics of 430 children and adolescents (ages 2–17 yrs) tapping a variety of content areas were obtained on a 100-item checklist. Responses on the checklist were submitted to a principle components factor analysis with varimax rotation. Factor scores were generated for each S on the 16 interpretable factors. T scores of the 16 profile scales were correlated with the problem-behavior factor scores separately for male children, male adolescents, female children, and female adolescents. The resulting correlation matrices allowed identification of scale to correlates and their variation by age or sex and facilitated the estimate of generalizability of the data analysis. Results provide substantial evidence of scale convergent and discriminant validity and suggest the potential utility of this instrument. Further research is necessary to determine specific correlates suggested by scale elevation, setting, age-specific or sex-specific correlates, and development of profile classification rules. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traumatic spinal cord injury, alcohol, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Investigated whether use of selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scales can identify personality characteristics in male patients with traumatic spinal cord injury and a positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time of injury. 20 males (aged 16–53 yrs) with a positive and 9 age-matched males with a negative BAC and 101 normal control males (aged 20–29 yrs) were contrasted on the MMPI Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, and Mania clinical scales and derived subscales reflecting traits such as rebelliousness and impulsivity. Results indicate that the average BAC when Ss arrived at the emergency room was 1,507 μg/ml. 75% of the positive BAC group had BAC concentrations above the legally defined limit of 1,000 μg/ml. Except for the MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale, none of the MMPI clinical scales or their corresponding derived subscales were significantly different between groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory normal K+ and other unelevated profiles.

Compared empirical correlates of normal K+ and non-K+ unelevated Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles in a psychiatric inpatient setting. Case history (symptom ratings, demographic variables, and diagnoses) and psychometric data were obtained without knowledge of MMPI profile group membership from psychiatrists' discharge summaries on 84 male and female inpatients. Normal K+ and non- K+ unelevated profile groups were more similar to each other than either group was to a randomly selected inpatient control group of 50 Ss. Results generally support the contention of M. D. Gynther and P. J. Brilliant (see record 1969-00131-001) that applicability of empirical correlates of unelevated MMPI profiles should be determined in each clinical setting. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychiatric symptom correlates of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Masculinity-Femininity scale.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to 72 female and 51 male outpatients, and subjects were rated on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Raw scores on Masculinity–Femininity (Mf) correlated positively with ratings of emotional distress, even with gender effects removed. Male and female patients who scored high (feminine direction) on Mf were rated higher on anxiety, depressed mood, guilt feelings, and tension than were low scorers. Mf was the only MMPI scale to correlate significantly with guilt feelings, and its relationships with anxiety, depressed mood, and tension were largely independent of other MMPI clinical scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory T score conversion tables, 1957–1983.

Presents tables to facilitate the transformation of standard Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) linear T score profiles to new MMPI normalized T score profiles (based on contemporary norms, as found by R. C. Collingan et al, 1983), and vice versa. These tables show that (1) the 1983 profiles are consistently less elevated than the corresponding 1957 profile presented by S. R. Hathaway and P. F. Briggs (see record 1959-01273-001) (if the latter are at or above T?=?50); (2) the more deviant a standard 1957 profile, the more this profile differs from its corresponding 1983 profile; and (3) the difference in elevation of 1983 and 1957 T scores for any fixed 1957 T score value varies across MMPI scales. Differences in elevations of 1957 and 1983 profiles of 20 or more T score points are possible when these profiles are generated from the same MMPI raw scores. Implications concerning false positive rates, false negative rates, and profile configurations are presented. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)