Stability of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory in an incarcerated delinquent population

Clinical use of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) depends on computerized interpretation of the pattern of scale score elevations in the profile beyond certain cutoff scores rather than the elevations of single scales. There has been no reported work on the stability of the scale scores or the stability of the 2-point codes in a delinquent population. The MAPI was administered to 46 incarcerated male juvenile delinquents and was readministered after a period of 2 to 4 weeks. The test-retest correlations of the base-rate scale scores ranged from .33 to .89 with a mean of .74, which compare favorably to Millon's (1982) standardization sample. However, only 41% of the 2-point codes were judged to be congruent between administrations. The poor congruence of the 2-point codes across administrations raises doubts about interpretive statements based on these codes.     

The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory and the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory

The theoretical grounds, purposes, and features of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI; Millon, Green, & Meagher, 1982) and its forthcoming replacement the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI; Millon, in press) are reviewed. The rationale and procedure for the construction of the component scales are briefly explained, and the logic of configural or profile interpretation is examined and recommended. Uses and limitations of the MAPI and MAC1 are considered. Evaluative research, although limited in scope, points to the general utility of the MAPI and MACI as clinical tools, and to areas where further study may enhance their applicability in a counseling context.     

Longitudinal Associations Between Delinquent Behaviour of Friends and Delinquent Behaviour of Adolescents: Moderation by Adolescent Personality Traits

In this longitudinal study, we examined whether personality traits (parent‐rated Big Five personality traits) render some adolescents more susceptible than others to delinquent behaviour of friends, predicting rank‐order changes in adolescents' self‐reported delinquent behaviour. We examine susceptibility to both perceived (reported by adolescents) and self‐reported (reported by friends) delinquent behaviour of friends. Participants in this two‐wave study were 285 Dutch adolescents and their best friends. The adolescents (50% girls) were 15.5 years old on average (SD = 0.8 years), and their best friends (N = 176; 58% girls) were 15.1 years old (SD = 1.5 years). Perceived (but not self‐reported) delinquency of friends predicted a stronger increase in adolescent delinquency 1 year later, especially among adolescents low or average on conscientiousness. Emotional stability, agreeableness, extraversion and openness did not moderate associations between delinquency of friends and delinquency of adolescents. Our findings show that low conscientiousness serves as a risk factor, increasing vulnerability to perceived delinquent behaviour of friends, while high conscientiousness serves as a protective factor, increasing resilience to perceived delinquent behaviour of friends. Our findings also show that adolescents are susceptible to, and differ in susceptibility to, friends' delinquent behaviour as they perceive it—not to delinquent behaviour as reported by friends themselves. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory profiles of depressed adolescents

The evidence indicates that adolescent depression may be more difficult to recognize than its adult counterpart, although the reasons for this difficulty remain unclear. The research in this area is in part impeded by the lack of adolescent-specific measures of personality functioning. In this study the personality styles, expressed concerns, and behavioral tendencies of depressed adolescents were investigated by means of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI), a relatively new personality inventory designed specifically for this age group. Three hundred sixty-six high school students completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the MAPI, resulting in 332 valid and reliable MAPI profiles. The data were reduced to two factors, accounting for 65.1% of the total variance, by means of a principal components analysis. The two factors were interpreted as two dimensions of personality functioning associated with depression in adolescents. The first dimension suggested a socially withdrawn, overtly recognizable depression, whereas the second presents acting-out tendencies that may overshadow depressive symptomatology. The findings are integrated with the theoretical positions represented in the literature. Theoretical and practical implications for the use of the MAPI with depressed adolescents are discussed.     

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory: Reliability and Validity in an Adolescent Spanish Population

The objective of this study is to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SPAI in a sample of adolescent Spaniards. The results obtained support the use of the correlated two-factor SPAI subscales and indicate high coefficient alpha values for the SPAI subscales. The results provide support for the use of the SPAI in an adolescent population in a non-English-speaking country. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Social Phobia subscale showed a four-factor structure, instead of a five-factor dimension, as suggested by previous studies. Effects for gender and age and gender interaction were found. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Relations Between Adolescent Ratings of Rothbart's Temperament Questionnaire and the HEXACO Personality Inventory

Conventionally, individual differences have been assessed using temperament measures for infants and children, and personality measures for adults. We chose to explore both temperament and personality to see whether a convergence exists specifically during adolescence. A sample of 225 adolescents completed Rothbart's Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire–Revised (EATQ–R), a 4-factor temperament scale, and the HEXACO Personality Inventory–Revised (HEXACO PI–R), a 6-factor personality scale. As hypothesized, we found significant relations between the 2 measures. However, there were some important differences between the 2 measures regarding Honesty–Humility, Openness, and Frustration that highlight the unique contributions of both instruments to understanding and measuring adolescent individual differences. As there is a relatively scant history of measuring temperament or personality in adolescence, it is sometimes difficult for researchers to decide which instrument is most appropriate. The results reported here suggest that either the EATQ–R or the HEXACO PI–R could be appropriate, depending on the specific research questions being asked.     

Adolescent Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Its Utility in Assessing Suicidal and Violent Adolescents

Adolescent Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles of inpatient adolescents were examined to identify differences between suicidal (danger to self, n = 145) and violent (danger to others, n = 36) adolescents. Participants were 181 inpatients (12–17 years old, mean age, 14.7 years) admitted to an adolescent psychiatric unit of a southern California county hospital. Results indicate that the suicide group had significantly higher scores than the violent group on five scales (Hypochondriasis, Psychasthenia, Paranoia, Schizophrenia, and Social Introversion). These scales, singly or in combination, have been found to be indicative of psychotic process. This suggests the presence of psychotic process in suicidal, but not violent, adolescents.     

Stability of the Personality and Symptom Scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory

This study examines the stability of the basic and pathological personality and symptom scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in three clinical samples. Consistent with the theory upon which the MCMI is based, higher stability estimates were found among basic personality scales in comparison with symptom scales. However, stability estimates which included initial MCMI administration at intake into retreatment were generally lower than those based upon administrations which occurred later in the treatment process. This later finding suggests the need to consider timing of administration when interpreting the MCMI.     

Retest Reliability of the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory

This article reports on two studies which examined the temporal stability of the personality disorder subscales from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI). The scales demonstrated adequate stability in psychiatric inpatients (retested with an average of just over 1 year between testings). Furthermore, a separate sample of depressed inpatients assessed when depressed and 6 weeks later showed that the stability of MCMI personality scales was observed even after patients displayed an initial reduction in depression severity. Although stability is vital to the accurate assessment of personality disorders, both studies also found high retest correlations for the MCMI clinical syndrome subscales. In general, these results suggest that patients displayed similar symptom patterns over time, whether construed as personality traits or characteristic patterns of responding when symptomatic.     

Assessment of Psychopathic Traits in an Incarcerated Adolescent Sample: A Methodological Comparison

Analyses of convergent validity and group assignment using self-report, caregiver-report and interview-based measures of adolescent psychopathy were conducted in a sample of 160 incarcerated adolescents. Results reveal significant convergent validity between caregiver-report measures of adolescent psychopathy, significant convergent validity between self-report measures of adolescent psychopathy and an interviewer rating scale, but not between the caregiver-report measures and their corresponding self-report measures nor between the caregiver-report measures and the interviewer rating scale. Analyses of group assignment were also poorer than expected among all the measures with none evidencing significant agreement with the expert-rated device (Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version; PCL-YV), the most common forensic instrument used in clinical practice. Part of the poor agreement may be related to the poor psychometric performance of the callous-unemotional subscale of most of these measures and the low response rates from caregivers (N?=?35). These findings suggest that the measures do not provide an interchangeable assessment of callous-unemotional traits and suggest that further refinement of the measurement of callous-unemotional traits in youth may be warranted.     

Risk Factors for Institutional Misconduct Among Incarcerated Women: An Examination of the Criterion-Related Validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory

This study tested the hypothesis that the Last-Weiss (Last &; Weiss, 1976) Rorschach Ego-Strength Scale would predict outcome among a representative sample of first-lifetime psychiatric admissions. One hundred seventeen patients were assessed with structured symptom, psychiatric history, and social data interviews at hospital admission, and 2-year follow-up. Outcome measures included a multidimensional variable involving rehospitalization time, social and work functioning, and recent symptom level and symptom measures. Unexpectedly, the Last-Weiss Sum E variable correlated significantly with negative multidimensional outcome, a result that was strengthened when any possibly confounding effects of social class, IQ, and number of Rorschach responses were partialled out. It was found that Sum E's predictive value for poorer outcome was due to the space response (S +) component of the ego-strength variable. Possible explanations of the findings and implications for the previously validated Klopfer's Rorschach Prognostic Rating Scale are discussed.     

Basic Personality Inventory clinical and validity scales: Stability and internal consistency

A sample of 71 incarcerated adult male inmates was used to investigate the stability and internal consistency for the clinical and validity scales of the Basic Personality Inventoiy. One month test-retest stability coefficients for the clinical scales ranged from .53 to .77. KR-20 reliabilities ranged from .61 to .86 on each occasion. With the exception of the longer perseveration scales, stability was also reasonable for the validity scales. Overall, the Basic Personality Inventory clinical and validity scales demonstrated favorable stability and reliability in an inmate population.This research was supported by a STEP grant from the Alberta Government. Portions of this paper were presented at the Psychologists Association of Alberta's annual meeting, April 8, 1989, Calgary, Alberta. We gratefully acknowledge M. R. Sass and M. Wcinrath for their support.     

Readability of Three Adult Personality Tests: Basic Personality Inventory,Jackson Personality Inventory,and Personality Research Form-E

Three personality tests, the Basic Personality Inventory (BPI), the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI), and the Personality Research Form-E (PRF-E) were evaluated for readability using a number of indices. Sentence length, word length, sentence type, and four readability formulas indicated that the readability of the BPI, JPI, and PRF-E would not impede the administration or interpretation of these tests in broad segments of the population.     

Factor Structure of the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) With an Offender Sample

One thousand two hundred inmates were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1984) in a midwestern reception and diagnostic center. Two groups of 600 were randomly divided, and their test results were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. Four factors were derived in both groups and were similar, indicating successful cross-validation. Three of the four factors bore similarity to factors found in other samples (drug abusers, psychiatric population, Viet Nam veterans), and the fourth was unique to the offender population.     

Examining the Association between Family Environment and Adolescent Delinquent Behaviours in China

Journal of Child and Family Studies - We examined the association between perceived family environment and delinquent behaviours among Chinese adolescents. A sample of 176 middle school students...     

Psychometric Properties of the HEXACO Personality Inventory

We introduce a personality inventory designed to measure six major dimensions of personality derived from lexical studies of personality structure. The HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI) consists of 24 facet-level personality trait scales that define the six personality factors named Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to Experience (O). In this validation study involving a sample of over 400 respondents, all HEXACO-PI scales showed high internal consistency reliabilities, conformed to the hypothesized six-factor structure, and showed adequate convergent validities with external variables. The HEXACO factor space, and the rotations of factors within that space, are discussed with reference to J. S. Wiggins' work on the circumplex.     

Subdimensional Structure of the Hogan Personality Inventory

This study examined the subdimensional structure of the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI). A sample of 200 Spanish applicants completed the HPI as a requirement of a selection process for several jobs at a large international company. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted with the homogenous item composites (HIC) included in the HPI. Globally, the results indicated that the Big Five are divided into 13 subdimensions, which explained the variance of the HICs. Based on these results, we suggest that the HPI can be described as a personality inventory consisting of a hierarchical structure of three levels (Big Five – subdimensions – HICs).     

Limited Goals in Short-Term Group Psychotherapy with Institutionalized Delinquent Adolescent Boys

This paper applies a specific view of familylike dynamics to psychoanalytic group psychotherapy. Pathological forms of protectiveness and scapegoating are both involved in which the symptomatic individuals maintain an enmeshment with the group which saves them from anxieties associated with change. As the scapegoat, the problem patient becomes the spokesperson for a group transference involving the therapist(s), group members, and a developmentally internalized family. The primary technical error is the tendency for the therapist, in the guise of appropriate technique, to unconsciously collude with a scapegoating process thereby discouraging differentiation and growth. Viewing the group from the perspective of pathological versus healthy forms of family interaction helps to highlight certain problems in the therapist's interventions.