Ethnicity and psychopathology: A meta-analytic review of 31 years of comparative MMPI/MMPI-2 research.

Meta-analyses were performed on 25 comparative Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and MMPI-2 studies of 1,428 male African Americans versus 2,837 male European Americans, 12 studies of 1,053 female African Americans versus 1,470 female European Americans, and 13 studies of 500 male Latino Americans and 1,345 male European Americans. Aggregate effect sizes suggest higher scores for ethnic minority groups than for European Americans on some MMPI/MMPI-2 scales and lower scores on others. However, none of the aggregate effect sizes suggest substantive differences from either a statistical or clinical perspective. The MMPI and MMPI-2 apparently do not unfairly portray African Americans and Latinos as pathological. Effect sizes across studies generally did not vary as a function of sociodemographic variables, research setting, or use of the MMPI versus MMPI-2. It is recommended that additional between- and within-ethnic groups psychopathology research continue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality traits and persistence of interest in teaching as a vocational choice.

MMPI scores were compared for "persistent" and "nonpersistent" male and female college students. "Persistent" meant completion of a program of teacher preparation and acceptance of a teaching position after graduation; "nonpersistent" meant making application for admission to a teacher preparation program but not enrolling in the program. Significant differences between persistent and nonpersistent females in mean scores were found on five of nine MMPI scales, but only one significant difference was found for the male groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cholinesterase inhibition by derivatives of 2-amino-4,6-dimethylpyridine

Previous studies suggest that many transsexuals evidence an Axis I diagnosis according to the DSM-IV classification (e.g., psychoses, major affective disorder). The current study examined retrospectively the comorbidity between gender dysphoria and major psychopathology, evaluating the charts of 435 gender dysphoric individuals (318 male and 117 female). All had undergone an extensive evaluation, addressing such areas as hormonal/surgical treatment, and histories of substance abuse, mental illness, genital mutilation, and suicide attempts. In addition, a subgroup of 137 individuals completed the MMPI. Findings revealed over two thirds were undergoing hormone reassignment, suggesting a commitment to the real-life cross-gender process. One quarter had had problems with substance abuse prior to entering treatment, but less than 10% evidenced problems associated with mental illness, genital mutilation, or suicide attempts. Those completing the MMPI (93 female and 44 male) demonstrated profiles that were notably free of psychopathology (e.g., Axis I or Axis II criteria). The one scale where significant differences were observed was the Mf scale, and this held true only for the male-to-female group. Psychological profiles as measured by the MMPI were more "normal" in the desired sex than the anatomic sex. Results support the view that transsexualism is usually an isolated diagnosis and not part of any general psychopathological disorder.     

Some relationships between the MMPI and a problem checklist.

Problem Checklist responses and MMPI T-scores were obtained for 335 male and 125 female student counselees. The most frequently checked problems dealt with educational and vocational difficulties, and males were nearly twice as variable as females in number of problems checked. "In general, there seems to be some logical correspondence between several of the Checklist problems and personality characteristics as assessed by the MMPI… [but]… Since the number of individuals in most of the high scale groups was so small… valid inference from the… results is impossible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The equivalence of guilt and anxiety as psychological constructs.

The study investigates the relationship between anxiety and feelings of guilt by comparing the MA scale with a scale of items selected from the MMPI by clinical judges to measure the construct of feelings of guilt. A comparison was made of the 2 scales using the MMPI protocols of 70 VA psychiatric inpatients, 70 male psychiatric nursing aide applicants, and 70 female aide applicants. For the combined 3 groups there was a correlation of .75 which increases to .93 when correction is made for attenuation. The results were interpreted as showing that as far as self-report measures are concerned, scales involving clinical constructs of guilt and anxiety measure the same psychological entity. (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)     

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)     

Course of functioning in adolescents 1 year after alcohol and other drug treatment.

Clinical course was studied in 131 male and female adolescents with current alcohol use disorder (AUD) at baseline (BL). Participants were classified into 4 groups according to their diagnosis and drinking pattern 1 year later. The 4 groups were compared with each other and with 37 community control participants. Results showed that over half of the clinical sample no longer had a current AUD at 1 year; about 64% were and 36% were not still drinking. BL discriminators of 1-year status were alcohol dependence, other drug use, and coping. All of the clinical groups tended to show improvement at 1 year in the main dependent variables, and the abstainers' level of drug use and coping were comparable with that of the community participants. These findings suggest that many adolescents improve in functioning during the 1 year after alcohol and drug treatment and that a stress and coping model is useful for studying clinical course of AUDs in adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Standardization of the Chinese MMPI–A in Hong Kong: A preliminary study.

The Chinese Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescents (MMPI—A) was applied in Hong Kong to a normative sample of 565 male and 664 female students ages 14–18. The Chinese adolescents' MMPI–A T scores based on the U.S. adolescent norms were elevated more than 1 SD on Scale 2. Similar elevations were found on Scale L (Lie) for the female students and on Scale A-lse (Adolescent Low Self-Esteem) for the male students. Moderate elevations were also shown on several scales, although none of the clinical scales exceeded a T score of 65, the clinical cutoff point based on U.S. norms. Whether these elevations were due to cultural differences in item interpretation or higher levels of psychopathology among the Hong Kong students cannot be concluded from the present data. However, previous findings on the Chinese MMPI favors the former explanation. These cultural differences should be taken into consideration in clinical interpretations of elevated scores on the Chinese MMPI—A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of background items on responses to personality inventory items.

3 questionnaires were constructed. 1 consisted of just items from the MMPI Social Introversion (Si) Scale. The 2nd had these items intermingled with items (from the MMPI L and K scales) which usually evoke a "true" response. The 3rd questionnaire had the Si items intermingled with items (from the F scale) which usually evoke a "false" response. There were 6 groups (45 Ss each), a male and female group for each form. The experimental hypothesis was that Ss would respond differentially to the Si items depending on the background items. Analysis of variance showed no significant effects associated with the different forms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of MMPI code types produced by traditional and recent adolescent norms.

Adolescent norms for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) have recently been produced by Gottesman, Hanson, Kroeker, and Briggs (1987) and by Colligan and Offord (1987), thereby providing MMPI users with potential alternatives to the traditional norms published in Marks, Seeman, and Haller (1974). The current study examined the MMPI responses of 300 adolescents from normal, outpatient, and inpatient settings, with each MMPI protocol scored for the three normative sets noted above, as well as for a fourth norm set based on a linear T-score transformation of the Colligan and Offord data. Findings indicate that profile elevation and frequency of specific code type assignments varied substantially between these normative sets. Further, the Marks et al. and Gottesman et al. norms achieved the highest sensitivity values in accurately identifying subjects from clinical samples, whereas the Colligan and Offord norms produced the highest specificity values in accurately identifying normal adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The MMPI critical items: how well do they work?

Examined the theoretical foundation and empirical performance of 2 sets of "critical items" that are a common feature of most automated MMPI interpretations. These items purportedly alert the clinician to serious pathology and operate as a scale of general maladjustment. Critical items resulted in numerous misclassifications when used as a scale of adjustment with 43% of 1,023 male psychiatric patients and 95% of 1,045 normal male job applicants responding in the deviant direction on 5 or fewer items. The critical items consist mainly of F -scale items and duplicate the information communicated by this scale. The extremely deviant nature of the critical items makes them capable of only reflecting crises of psychotic proportions. When face-valid critical items were compared to clinical data, 70-76% resulted in empirically valid behavior samples. Invalid critical items are listed. It is concluded that MMPI critical items are inadequate for screening purposes. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of corticotropin-releasing hormone on gastrointestinal motility and adrenocorticotropic hormone in normal controls and patients with irritable bowel syndrome

The present study adopted a prospective design to explore relationships among various types of social support and depression. Four types of social support, namely network support, instrumental enacted support, socio-emotional enacted support, and perceived support, were assessed in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Results revealed that perceived support was related to a reduction of subsequent depression for both male and female adolescents. In addition, instrumental enacted support was a significant predictor of subsequent depression for male adolescents, whereas socioemotional enacted support was a significant predictor of subsequent depression for female adolescents. Functional differences in the types of social support for Chinese male and female adolescents, as well as implications for clinical intervention, are discussed.     

Examining gender differences in drug-abusing adolescents.

This exploratory study examined gender differences among drug-abusing adolescents (N?=?2,281). Overall, male adolescents reported somewhat higher usage levels of various drugs than did female adolescents, and they had an earlier onset of regular marijuana use. In terms of clinical signs of problem severity, female adolescents showed higher scores than male adolescents on Physical Symptoms, Escape (with drugs), and Emotional Consequences (of drug use) scales when drug use levels were controlled. However, the relatively small magnitude of the significant differences, and the fact that many scales did not show group differences, suggest that male and female adolescents attending drug clinics share many similar features of adolescent drug abuse. Implications of these findings for the prevention and treatment of adolescent drug abuse are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal conditioning of psychopaths as a function of experimenter-subject sex differences.

48 male and female psychopathic and 48 nonpsychopathic undergraduates, as defined by their MMPI, Psychopathic (Pd) scores, were verbally conditioned by a male and a female E. The hypothesis was that psychopathic Ss condition only in an opposite E-S sex group, while those in a matching sex group do not. It was further hypothesized that no such Sex * Treatment interaction exists for nonpsychopathic Ss, where both sex groups are expected to condition. Results lend support to the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hip and ankle range of motion in elite classical ballet dancers and controls

Use of herbal remedies from medicinal plants (bush medicines) was studied in 622 people with diabetes mellitus attending 17 government health centers on the island of Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. Bush medicines were used by 42% of patients surveyed and were used for diabetes by 24%. Bush medicine use was more frequent in Afro-Trinidadians and in those of mixed ethnicity than in Indo-Trinidadians, and was also more prevalent in those with lower educational attainment. Most patients using bush medicines (214/264, or 81%) reported gathering the plants themselves, and 107/264 (41%) took them more frequently than once a week. Patients taking bush medicines mentioned 103 different plants used in remedies. Among the 12 most frequently mentioned, caraili, aloes, olive-bush, and seed-under-leaf were preferentially used for diabetes. Vervine, chandilay, soursop, fever grass, and orange peel were preferentially used for other indications. Patients who reported burning or numbness in the feet or feelings of tiredness, weakness, giddiness, or dizziness used bush medicines for diabetes more frequently than did patients who reported a range of other diabetes-related symptoms. Insulin-treated patients were less frequent users of bush medicines. It is concluded that bush medicines are taken regularly by many patients with diabetes in Trinidad. Plants most frequently used as remedies for diabetes have recognized hypoglycemic activity. Patients' culture, educational background, type of symptoms, and formal medical treatment may also influence the selection and use of bush medicines.     

Consistency of self-descriptions under different role sets in neurotic and normal adolescents and adults.

15 male Ss in each of 4 groups (neurotic adolescents, normal adolescents, neurotic adults, and normal adults) described themselves with a Q sort as they saw themselves in 3 different situations (self in general, self with family, and self with friends). The tendency to describe themselves inconsistently was characteristic of neurotic adolescents specifically and not of adolescents or of neurotics in general. Results were discussed in relation to adolescence as a time of "identity crisis" and with previously reported findings that neurotics tend to have inconsistent self-concepts. (27 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)