MAPI-C: The Jury Is Still Out (Software)

This article examines one aspect of the potential usefulness of critical items to the: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory -Adolescent (MMPI-A). Endorsement frequency data are presented on the Koss-Butcher (1973) and the Lachar-Wrobeli (1979) critical items for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) adult normative and clinical samples and for MMPI-A adolescent normative and clinical samples. Adolescents in both normal and clinical samples endorse critical items with a higher frequency than do normal adults. Further, results demonstrated that significant differences were uniformly found between the endorsement frequencies for normative versus clinical subjects for the MMPI-2 samples, whereas similar comparisons for the MMPI-A samples typically showed that adolescents in clinical setting did not endorse critical items more frequently than normal adolescents. These findings indicate that it may be difficult to construct critical item lists for adolescents based on the type of empirical methodology used with adults in which items are selected based on endorsement frequency differences found between comparison group. Beyond the issue of the technical difficulty in creating a critical item list for adolescents, several conceptual concerns are raised regarding the application of critical items to the MMPI-A. It was noted that the concept of "critical items" has not been we11 defined, and both the reliability and validity of critical items may be limited in adolescent populations.     

The effectiveness of MMPI-A items in discriminating between normative and clinical samples.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) was released in 1992 and has rapidly become the most widely used objective personality assessment instrument with adolescents. Although the MMPI-A reduced or eliminated several problems associated with the use of the original MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) with adolescents, the MMPI-A does produce a high frequency of within normal limits basic scale profiles for individuals with substantial psychopathology including adolescents in inpatient psychiatric settings. To better understand the reasons for this phenomenon, we compared the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-A normative sample with results from two adolescent clinical samples, and these results were contrasted to the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) normative sample and a clinical sample of adult psychiatric inpatients. Results showed that the MMPI-A contains a substantial number of items that do not show a significant difference in item endorsement frequency between normative and clinical samples. Furthermore, MMPI-A basic and content scales generally show a much lower percentage of effective items than do the corresponding scales for the MMPI-2. We discuss the findings in relation to the frequent occurrence of low range MMPI-A profiles in clinical samples and the potential usefulness of these results in future efforts to develop viable short forms for the MMPI-A.     

Type A Personality,Self-Control,and Vulnerability to Stress

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) was released in 1992 and has rapidly become the most widely used objective personality assessment instrument with adolescents. Although the MMPI-A reduced or eliminated several problems associated with the use of the original MMPI (Hathaway &; McKinley, 1943) with adolescents, the MMPI-A does produce a high frequency of within normal limits basic scale profiles for individuals with substantial psychopathology including adolescents in inpatient psychiatric settings. To better understand the reasons for this phenomenon, we compared the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-A normative sample with results from two adolescent clinical samples, and these results were contrasted to the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, &; Kaemmer, 1989) normative sample and a clinical sample of adult psychiatric inpatients. Results showed that the MMPI-A contains a substantial number of items that do not show a significant difference in item endorsement frequency between normative and clinical samples. Furthermore, MMPI-A basic and content scales generally show a much lower percentage of effective items than do the corresponding scales for the MMPI-2. We discuss the findings in relation to the frequent occurrence of low range MMPI-A profiles in clinical samples and the potential usefulness of these results in future efforts to develop viable short forms for the MMPI-A.     

An evaluation of the MMPI-2 and MMPI-a true response inconsistency (TRIN) scales

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) True Response Inconsistency (TRIN) scales are measures of acquiescence and non-acquiescence included among the standard validity scales on these instruments. The goals of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of these scales in detecting varying degrees of acquiescence and non-acquiescence and to evaluate cutoff scores for clinical use. After the removal of invalid protocols from the MMPI-2 and MMPI-A normative samples, each normative sample was randomly divided in half. For each measure, one half of the normative sample served as a comparison group and the other half was modified with increasing degrees (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) of randomly inserted true or false responses. The results for a 9.1% base rate of acquiescence or non-acquiescence provide support for TRIN cutoff scores at or near those presented in the MMPI-A and MMPI-2 manuals.     

Psychometric Stability of MMPI-A Item Modifications

The 478-item Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) is a revision of the original test instrument for use in the assessment of adolescents. As part of the MMPI-A development, process, 70 items were modified from their appearance in the original test instrument to eliminate obsolete or sexist language, reduce awkward phrasing, increase item clarity, or improve item relevancy to adolescents' life experiences. If these modifications in the original item pool resulted in substantial differences in the frequency of respondents' endorsements of these lest items, such differences could pose a threat to the generalizability of research findings from the original form of the MMPI to the MMPI-A. This study examined the psychometric stability of modified items by comparing item endorsement frequency and item test-retest correlations in a group of 265 adolescents evaluated in repeated administrations design. Results of item analyses indicate that item modifications designed to improve the content or grammatical structure of these 70 items did not result in significant changes in response patterns.     

Changes in adolescent response patterns on the MMPI/MMPI--a across four decades

The purpose of this study was to explore changes in adolescent self-presentation on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1940) and MMPI-A (Butcher et al., 1992) over a 40-year period. The primary samples used for comparison in this study include 1,235 adolescents, age 14 through 16, derived from the MMPI-A normative sample (Butcher et al., 1992) collected in 1989 and 10,514 adolescents, age 14 through 16, collected in 1948 and 1954 from Hathaway and Monachesi's (1963) study of adolescent personality and behavior. MMPI basic scale and item-level data were also included for 817 adolescents, age 14 through 16, collected by Colligan and Offord (1992) in 1985 as a further comparison. Between-sample analyses at the profile level revealed that adolescents from the MMPI-A normative sample scored significantly higher across basic clinical scales and lower on validity scales L and K than adolescents from the Hathaway and Monachesi (1963) sample, with mean data from the Colligan and Offord (1992) sample typically falling at a midpoint value. Analyses of Harris-Lingoes (Harris & Lingoes, 1955) subscale and item-level data were conducted to provide refined definitions of the contents of scale-level changes. Results were interpreted as reflecting moderate to large changes in response frequencies between eras of data collection, and emphasis was placed on the relatively high frequency of item endorsements by contemporary adolescents in the clinical direction in the MMPI-A normative sample. A series of cautions and limitations are also offered in interpreting these patterns.     

Item-Level and Scale-Level Factor Structures of the MMPI-A

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) is a 478-item test that represents a substantial revision of the original form of the MMPI. This investigation sought to identify the item-level factor structure of the MMPI-A and also examined the scale-level factor structure of the 69 scales and subscales of this instrument. The study utilized the 1,620 normal adolescents (805 boys and 815 girls) of the normative sample for the MMPI-A. These adolescents ranged in age from 14 to 18 inclusive, with a mean age of 15.54 for boys and 15.60 for girls. A principal factor analysis of item-level responses resulted in extraction of 14 factors that were subjected to promax (oblique) rotation procedures. These 14 factors incorporated 81% of the total MMPI-A item pool and accounted for 44% of the total item-level response variance. For the scale-level analysis, 8 factors were selected for extraction and submitted to promax rotation procedures. These eight factors accounted for a total of 93.5% of the total variance in MMPI-A scale and subscale raw scores, Item-level results were discussed in terms of areas of congruence and dissimilarities from previously reported MMPI factor analyses in adolescent and adult samples, and scale-level factor results were presented in terms of clinical implications for the interpretation of MMPI-A scales and subscales.     

The classification accuracy of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent: effects of modifying the normative sample

Numerous studies have reported that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) produces a high frequency of within-normal-limits basic scale profiles for adolescents with significant clinical pathology (e.g., Archer, 2005). The current study builds on the observation that the MMPI-A normative sample included participants who reported a recent history of referral for counseling or therapy services. The 193 adolescents who reported referral for counseling were removed from the normative sample and uniform T-score values were recalculated for basic clinical scale raw scores. The frequency of within-normal-limits profiles was only marginally reduced by using the revised MMPI-A norms. Furthermore, the overall hit rate, positive predictive power, and sensitivity were only slightly improved by removing normative participants referred for counseling and basing norms on the remaining 1,427 adolescents.     

Comparative accuracy of the MMPI-2 and the MMPI-A in the diagnosis of psychopathology in 18-year-olds

Both the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (MMPI-2) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--Adolescent (MMPI-A) may be administered to 18-year-olds. Each test was administered to 18-year-old participants classified as psychopathology present (PP) or psychopathology absent (PA) to assess (a) the degree of correspondence between the 2 test versions in yielding clinically elevated or nonclinically elevated profiles and (b) the relative accuracy of the 2 test versions in identifying the presence of psychopathology. The 2 tests produced profiles that were inconsistent in clinical elevation status in 70 of 152 participants (46%). All 70 participants with incongruent profiles had clinically elevated MMPI-2 scores and normal-range MMPI-A scores. Analyses of incongruent profiles obtained by PP and PA participants indicated that 18-year-olds were overpathologized by the MMPI-2 and underpathologized by the MMPI-A.     

An evaluation of the usefulness of the MMPI-2 F(p) scale

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) F(p) scale was developed by Arbisi and Ben-Porath (1995) by identification of 27 items endorsed by fewer than 20% of individuals in both normal and psychiatric samples. The F(p) scale was designed for applications in settings characterized by high base rates of serious psychopathology, such as psychiatric inpatient units, and is proposed as a useful scale in discriminating overreported protocols from those produced by patients with serious psychopathology. In this study we investigated the characteristics of this scale in a sample of 617 psychiatric inpatients who responded to the MMPI-2 under standard conditions, and 203 overreported protocols derived in research studies conducted with normal adult participants instructed to simulate various forms of serious psychopathology. Results of this study are consistent with prior reports of a relatively low frequency of item endorsement for F(p) scale items in psychiatric samples, and intercorrelations between the F(p) scale and the MMPI-2 basic clinical scales in clinical samples that are generally lower than those produced between either F or Fb and the basic clinical scales. However, this intercorrelational pattern between F(p) and the MMPI-2 basic scales was not as consistent for the overreported sample. Additionally, the F(p) scale appears to be effective in discriminating overreported from accurate MMPI-2 protocols, with some evidence that the optimal cutting scores for this and other MMPI-2 infrequency scales may differ as a function of gender. Finally, these findings do not show clear evidence of improved group prediction derived from the use of the F(p) scale in contrast to results obtainable through the use of the MMPI-2 F scale.     

Development and Effects of an MMPI--A K-Correction Procedure

Although the results of research on the effectiveness of the K-correction factor have been inconclusive, this procedure has been widely used with adult respondents to correct for defensiveness or underreporting of symptomatology on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Although the K-correction procedure was incorporated into the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) was developed based exclusively on the use of non-K-corrected T scores. This study derived age-appropriate K-weights for the MMPI-A to determine the degree to which the use of this procedure could improve test accuracy in the classification of participants into normal and clinical groups. Discriminant function analyses were performed to determine the K-weight that, when combined with basic scale raw score values, optimally predicted normal versus clinical status for each of the eight basic clinical scales. Hit rate analyses were utilised to assess the degree to which K-corrected T scores resulted in improvements in classification accuracy in contrast to standard MMPI-A non K-corrected norms. Results indicate that the adoption of K-correction procedure for the MMPI-A does not result in systematic improvements in test accuracy and the current findings do not support the clinical use of a K-correction factor in interpreting MMPI-A protocols.     

Development and effects of an MMPI--A K-correction procedure

Although the results of research on the effectiveness of the K-correction factor have been inconclusive, this procedure has been widely used with adult respondents to correct for defensiveness or underreporting of symptomatology on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Although the K-correction procedure was incorporated into the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) was developed based exclusively on the use of non-K-corrected T scores. This study derived age-appropriate K-weights for the MMPI-A to determine the degree to which the use of this procedure could improve test accuracy in the classification of participants into normal and clinical groups. Discriminant function analyses were performed to determine the K-weight that, when combined with basic scale raw score values, optimally predicted normal versus clinical status for each of the eight basic clinical scales. Hit rate analyses were utilised to assess the degree to which K-corrected T scores resulted in improvements in classification accuracy in contrast to standard MMPI-A non K-corrected norms. Results indicate that the adoption of K-correction procedure for the MMPI-A does not result in systematic improvements in test accuracy and the current findings do not support the clinical use of a K-correction factor in interpreting MMPI-A protocols.     

MMPI-A characteristics of male adolescents in juvenile justice and clinical treatment settings

The current study investigates the extent to which the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) profiles of 196 male adolescents evaluated in a South Carolina detention center could be successfully discriminated from the protocols of 200 male adolescent psychiatric inpatients in three states and 151 dually diagnosed male adolescents. Results showed significant differences in mean T-score values among these three groups of adolescents across a variety of MMPI-A scales and subscales. Results from discriminant function analyses indicate that treatment setting can be predicted effectively from MMPI-A profiles. Beyond the MMPI-A profile differences established for adolescents in these groups, the similarities of adolescents were also noted, particularly in terms of the frequent occurrence of Within-Normal-Limits profiles for adolescents in all groups. Potential directions for future research with the MMPI-A are presented.     

Item Level Improvements for Use of the MMPI With Adolescents

The decision to develop a separate adolescent form of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (i.e., the MMPI-A) raised questions about continued use of 20 original items that seemed unnecessarily ambiguous in content when employed with younger students (Ss). The responses of 362 academically gifted boys, aged 14 to 17 years, from an urban Catholic high school were compared on the experimental 704-item Form TX of the MMPI and a form containing 20 rewritten and 9 control items. The psychometric properties of the rewritten items indicated the same or better performance than that on the original versions while improving the items' face validity and reducing item ambiguity. Responses from 321 Ss to a follow-up questionnaire suggested eliminating offensive or irrelevant items and reducing the test's length would increase acceptance of the MMPI-A.     

Detecting fake-bad MMPI-A profiles

This study examined the extent to which the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) could identify adolescents who were faking-bad. This study also examined the extent to which the validity scales could differentiate between nonclinical adolescents instructed to fake-bad and both clinical and nonclinical adolescents who received standard instructions. Participants were 58 male and 80 female high school students and 58 male and 80 female adolescents from clinical settings. Results indicated that the mean profiles resembled those previously reported for adults on the MMPI (Graham, 1987) and MMPI-2 (Graham, Watts, & Timbrook, 1991) and for adolescents on the original MMPI (Archer, Gordon, & Kirchner, 1987). Accurate identification of students who were faking-bad was achieved. It was possible to differentiate between the clinical adolescents and nonclinical adolescents who were faking, and it was possible to differentiate between nonclinical adolescents who were faking and nonclinical adolescents with standard instructions; however, different cutoff scores were needed for these two discriminations. Optimal cutoff scores were presented.     

MMPI-2 L + K and L + K - F indexes of underreporting: normative and desirable responding

Norms based on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) normative sample are provided for the L + K and L + K - F indexes of underreporting and defensiveness. Index scores produced by consistently desirable responding, which was guided by desirability ratings of the MMPI-2 items, also are provided and compared with scores produced by underreporting in other studies. The indexes correlate highly with other measures of underreporting in both normative and clinical samples. The L and K scales assess different types of underreporting and should be interpreted separately as well as in combination. The L scale can be elevated by undesirable responding or random responding in addition to desirable responding.     

A Structural Analysis of the Impact of MMPI-2 on MMPI-1

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-1 (MMPI-1) items modified for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) are presented in pairs to illustrate modifications. MMPI-1 items deleted from MMPI-2 are presented, grouped by categories. Frequencies of items remaining in MMPI-2 for the following special scales are presented: Harris and Lingoes subscales of the clinical scales (Harris & Lingoes, 1955/1968); Wiggins Content scales (Wiggins, 1966); Tryon, Stein, and Chu (TSC) cluster scales (Stein, 1968; Tryon, 1966); Indiana Rational scales (Levitt, 1989); and selected other special scales. Frequencies of MMPI-1 items in the MMPI-2 validity and content scales are also presented, k is concluded that most of the special scales developed for MMPI-1 remain relatively intact in MMPI-2.     

The Consistency Between Scores of the Harris-Lingoes Subscales of the MMPI and MMPI-2

This study investigates the consistency between scores of the Harris-Lingoes subscales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the MMPI-2. College students (200 men and 200 women) were randomly assigned to either the original to original condition, where they took the MMPI twice, or the original to revised condition, where they took the MMPI and MMPI-2. Results indicate relative consistency in the item and normative changes between the Harris-Lingoes subscales of the MMPI and MMPI-2. These results suggest that the recommendation of a clinical significance score of T > 65 for the MMPI-2 scales should not be applied to the Harris-Lingoes subscales.     

Incremental validity of selected MMPI-A content scales in an inpatient setting

To date, relatively few studies have been published evaluating the validity or incremental validity of the content scales from the adolescent version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-A; J. N. Butcher et al., 1992). A sample of 629 psychiatric inpatient adolescents who had completed the MMPI-A was used to evaluate the ability of selected clinical and content scales to predict conceptually related clinical variables. Criteria were based on clinician ratings, admission and discharge diagnoses, and chart reviews. Results from hierarchical multiple and logistic regression analyses indicated the content scales offered incremental validity over the clinical scales and supported the use of the content scales as an adjunct to the traditional clinical scales.