Effect of symptom information and validity scale information on the malingering of depression on the MMPI-2

MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) data from college students who were attempting to malinger depression (199 women and 171 men) were compared to MMPI-2 data from students who responded honestly (50 women and 45 men). Mean MMPI-2 scores were compared with analyses of variance, and students' success in malingering depression was evaluated with criteria based on cutting scores for validity indexes and on the clinical scales commonly associated with depression. Students who were given information about the validity scales or about the symptoms of depression were more successful at malingering than students who received no information, indicating that malingerers of depression may be able to elude detection by the MMPI-2 if they are informed about the validity scales or the symptoms of depression.     

The MMPI-2 in Perú: a normative study

In this study, we compared a Peruvian normative group to the standard Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989b) U.S. normative sample. The MMPI-2 Hispanic Version was administered under standardized conditions to participants with a wide range of age, educational, occupational, and socioeconomic levels. Between the 2 samples, there was a high degree of similarity across most basic and supplementary scales. Elevations (Ts = 60-65) were found on Scale F for men and women and Scales Mf and MDS for women only. For both men and women, small elevations (Ts = 55-60) were found on several other scales. The differences were consistent with those found in other Latin American populations. The results of this study suggest that the adaptation of the MMPI-2 with the U.S. norms is appropriate for use in Perú.     

The MMPI-2 With College Students

MMPI-2 responses of 515 male and 797 female college students from four universities were examined. College students were compared with the new MMPI-2 normative sample on the clinical and validity scales. The reliability of MMPI-2 scores of college students were compared with reliabilities of the MMPI-2 normative sample. The results indicated that college students respond to the MMPI-2 in a highly similar manner to the MMPI-2 normative sample. Mean score differences on the validity and clinical scales were within 1 to 3 T-score points on most scales, and the frequency distributions of the college students were highly similar to those of the MMPI-2 normative samples, Slight differences obtained on the Pt, Sc, and Ma scales may reflect the younger age of the college groups compared to the MMPI-2 normative groups. The MMPI-2 norms were shown to be appropriate for use with college subjects. Test-retest correlation coefficients obtained from college students who were administered the MMPI-2 on two occasions showed reliabilities comparable to those found for the MMPI-2 normative sample.     

Incremental Validity of the MMPI-2 Content Scales in the Assessment of Personality and Psychopathology by Self-Report

The incremental contribution of the MMPI-2 Content Scales to the prediction of scores on self-report measures of personality and psychopathology was investigated. The MMPI-2, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Personality Inventory, anti Symptom Checklist-90-Revised were administered to 596 subjects: 339 women anti 257 men. Zero-order correlational analyses indicated that both clinical and Content Scales correlated with each of the criterion measures. In all but one case, an MMPI-2 Content Scale was found to have the highest correlation with the extratest variables. Combined hierarchical, stepwise regression analyses demonstrated that the MMPI-2 Content Scales possess incremental validity vis-a-vis the clinical scales for both genders in relation to all of the criterion measures. Additional analyses indicated that the MMPI-2 clinical scales also possess incremental validity vis-a-vis the Content Scales. However, the incremental contribution of the clinical scales was of lesser magnitude. Implications of these findings for test interpretation and future research with the MMPI-2 are discussed.     

Subtypes of clinical presentations in malingerers of posttraumatic stress disorder: an MMPI-2 cluster analysis

This paper investigated subtypes of individuals trained and instructed to malinger Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through a cluster analysis of their Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) clinical and validity scales. Participants were 84 men and women college students at a community college in the southeastern United States. Two well fitting MMPI-2 cluster solutions were evaluated with discriminant analyses and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs); a 2-cluster solution was deemed optimal. Significant between-cluster differences emerged in follow-up analyses on most of the content scales of the MMPI-2. Most demographic variables did not account for differences in cluster membership. Clusters differed in their reported clarity of the materials used to educate them about PTSD. Discriminant analyses yielded better correct classification rates than those from previous studies, when the more severely symptomatic cluster was compared with a sample of clinical combat-related PTSD veterans. Implications are considered in conducting future malingered PTSD investigations.     

Comparability of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 between women and men

Researchers studying eating disorders in men often use eating-disorder risk and symptom measures that have been validated only on women. Using a sample of 215 college women and 214 college men, this article reports on the validity the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), one of the best-validated among women and the most widely used risk and symptom measure for women. The EDI-2 had the same, standard eight-factor structure for both genders, and tests of invariance showed that factor loadings, factor variances, and factor intercorrelations were equivalent across gender. The EDI-2 scales correlated with questionnaire measures of bulimic and anorexic symptomatology equivalently across gender. However the EDI-2 scales were generally less reliable for men, leading to slightly lower Pearson-based estimates of correlations among the measures for men.     

Comparability and validity of computerized adaptive testing with the MMPI-2

The comparability and validity of a computerized adaptive (CA) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) were assessed in a sample of 571 undergraduate college students. The CA MMPI-2 administered adaptively Scales L, E the 10 clinical scales, and the 15 content scales, utilizing the countdown method (Butcher, Keller, & Bacon, 1985). All subjects completed the MMPI-2 twice, with three experimental conditions: booklet test-retest, booklet-CA, and conventional computerized (CC)-CA. Profiles across administration modalities show a high degree of similarity, providing evidence for the comparability of the three forms. Correlations between MMPI-2 scales and other psychometric measures (Beck Depression Inventory; Symptom Checklist-Revised; State-Trait Anxiety and Anger Scales; and the Anger Expression Scale) support the validity of the CA MMPI-2. Substantial item savings may be realized with the implementation of the countdown procedure.     

Comparability of computerized adaptive and conventional testing with the MMPI-2

A computerized adaptive version and the standard version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) were administered 1 week apart to a sample of 155 college students to assess the comparability of the two versions. The countdown method was used to adaptively administer Scales L, F, the I0 clinical scales, and the 15 new content scales. Profiles across administration modalities show a high degree of similarity, providing evidence for the comparability of computerized adaptive and conventional testing with the MMPI-2. Substantial item savings were found with the adaptive version. Future directions in the study of adaptive testing with the MMPI-2 are discussed.     

To Hook Up or Date: Which Gender Benefits?

Hooking up on college campuses has become more frequent than dating in heterosexual sexual interaction. Analysis of the relative benefits and costs associated with dating and hooking up suggest that women benefit more from dating while men benefit more from hooking up. U.S students (150 women, 71 men) at a midsized southeastern university indicated preferences for dating and hooking up across a number of situations and indicated the perceived benefits and risks associated with each. As hypothesized, in most situations women more than men preferred dating and men more than women preferred hooking up. Both genders perceived similar benefits and risks to dating and hooking up; differences provided insight into the sexual motives of college women and men.     

Effect of altered instructions on the MMPI-2 profiles of college students who are not motivated to distort their responses

Research has shown that when the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) is administered with instructions designed to make people aware of the validity indexes and when people are encouraged to respond honestly rather than invalidate the test through defensiveness, their scores on validity scales suggest a more candid responding. Before such modified administration procedures can be broadly used to increase the validity of the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) profiles, it is necessary to have more information about the effect of the altered instructions on test performance of people in general. This study involved administering the MMPI-2 to a group of 218 "normals" (college students) with instructions that differed from traditional instructions. Specifically, the test instructions were altered to explain more about the test and the presence of validity scales to apprise participants that disingenuous responding can be detected. The responses of college students taking the test under altered instructions were compared with those of a similar sample of 150 college students who took the test under standard instructions. Although under altered conditions there was a statistically significant tendency for measures assessing defensiveness (L, K, and S) to be lower for some participants (women but not men), the differences were trivial. Modified instructions made little practical difference in test performance when people who were not motivated to deceive on the test were informed of the presence of validity checks on the test.     

Effect of Altered Instructions on the MMPI-2 Profiles of College Students Who Are Not Motivated to Distort Their Responses

Research has shown that when the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) is administered with instructions designed to make people aware of the validity indexes and when people are encouraged to respond honestly rather than invalidate the test through defensiveness, their scores on validity scales suggest a more candid responding. Before such modified administration procedures can be broadly used to increase the validity of the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) profiles, it is necessary to have more information about the effect of the altered instructions on test performance of people in general. This study involved administering the MMPI-2 to a group of 218 "normals" (college students) with instructions that differed from traditional instructions. Specifically, the test instructions were altered to explain more about the test and the presence of validity scales to apprise participants that disingenuous responding can be detected. The responses of college students taking the test under altered instructions were compared with those of a similar sample of 150 college students who took the test under standard instructions. Although under altered conditions there was a statistically significant tendency for measures assessing defensiveness (L, K, and S) to be lower for some participants (women but not men), the differences were trivial. Modified instructions made little practical difference in test performance when people who were not motivated to deceive on the test were informed of the presence of validity checks on the test.     

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.     

An exploration of the impact of invalid MMPI-2 protocols on collateral self-report measure scores

Although a number of studies have examined the impact of invalid MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001) response styles on MMPI-2 scale scores, limited research has specifically explored the effects that such response styles might have on conjointly administered collateral self-report measures. This study explored the potential impact of 2 invalidating response styles detected by the Validity scales of the MMPI-2, overreporting and underreporting, on scores of collateral self-report measures administered conjointly with the MMPI-2. The final group of participants included in analyses was 1,112 college students from a Midwestern university who completed all measures as part of a larger study. Results of t-test analyses suggested that if either over- or underreporting was indicated by the MMPI-2 Validity scales, the scores of most conjointly administered collateral measures were also significantly impacted. Overall, it appeared that test-takers who were identified as either over- or underreporting relied on such a response style across measures. Limitations and suggestions for future study are discussed.     

Psychometric evaluation of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical scales in two Dutch samples

In this article, we evaluate internal validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) scales in the Dutch MMPI-2 normative sample (N = 1,244) and a Dutch outpatient psychiatric sample (N = 1,066). We pay special attention to a critique regarding construct drift of RC3 and the redundancy of the RC scales with existing MMPI-2 scales. The results indicate that the RC scales in both samples show comparable or better internal consistencies than the Clinical scales. Also, in both samples, the RC scales demonstrate lower scale-level intercorrelations than the Clinical scales. As to the structural characteristics, principal component analysis of the RC scales provided a clearer pattern than an analysis of the Clinical scales. Furthermore, mean raw scores on the RC scales for men in the Dutch normative sample corresponded highly with those in the U.S. normative sample except for RC2 and RC4. Less correspondence was found for women. Overall, we conclude that the RC scales show satisfactory reliability and promising internal validity in our Dutch samples. We suggest that U.S. validation studies on the RC scales may be generalized to the Dutch-language version of the MMPI-2 RC scales.     

The derivation of gender-role scales GM and GF for MMPI-2 and their relationship to Scale 5 (Mf).

Separate scales for masculine and feminine gender roles (GM and GF, respectively) were developed for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) based on the item endorsements of men and women in the restandardization sample. Each scale reflects the pattern of answers of a majority of the members of the respective sexes. There are no items in common between the two scales, and they correlate -.10 with each other for both men and women. Distributional, temporal stability, and internal consistency characteristics were analyzed, as well as their item overlap and correlations with the basic profile scales. These separate unipolar scales were contrasted with Scale 5 (the Masculinity-Femininity scale, Mf), the traditional measure of these constructs in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The conjoint use of GM and GF to form gender-role groups is recommended to supplement and clarify the ambiguity of midlevel scores on Scale 5.     

The Derivation of Gender-Role Scales GM and GF for MMPI-2 and Their Relationship to Scale 5 (Mf)

Separate scales for masculine and feminine gender roles (GM and GF, respectively) were developed for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory-2 (MMPI-2) based on the item endorsements of men and women in the restandardization sample. Each scale reflects the pattern of answers of a majority of the members of the respective sexes. There are no items in common between the two scales, and they correlate -.10 with each other for both men and women. Distributional, temporal stability, and internal consistency characteristics were analyzed, as well as their item overlap and correlations with the basic profile scales. These separate unipolar scales were contrasted with Scale 5 (the Masculinity-Femininity scale, Mf), the traditional measure of these constructs in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personaaty Inventory (MMPI). The conjoint use of GM and GF to form gender-role groups is recommended to supplement and clarify the ambiguity of midleveI scores on Scale 5.     

Validation of selected MMPI-2 basic and content scales

To investigate whether some of the MMPI-2 basic and/or content scales measure the factor structure represented by the Big-Five, 288 undergraduates (178 women and 110 men), between the ages of 18 and 34 years, were administered MMPI-2 and MARS (Michill Adjective Rating Scale) which measures four factors that are conceptually similar to the first four of the Big-Five. It was hypothesized that (a) three MMPI-2 scales (basicDepression or D, contentAnxiety or ANX, and contentDepression or DEP) would be correlated with MARSUnhappiness; (b) two MMPI-2 scales (basicSocial Introversion or Si and contentSocial Discomfort or SOD) would be correlated with MARSExtraversion; (c) two MMPI-2 scales (contentAnger or ANG and contentType A Behavior or TPA) would be correlated with MARSAssertiveness; and (d) two MMPI-2 scales (contentWork Interference or WRK and supplementaryDominance or DOM) would be correlated with MARSProductive Persistence. Results corroborated the hypothesized relationships between the components of the aforementioned four dyads.     

A taxometric analysis of the MMPI-2 Depression scales

The MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) and MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001) have long been used as measures of psychopathology. Both clinicians and researchers have noted the widespread existence of negative affectivity on the MMPI and MMPI-2 that may elevate scale scores and eclipse the tests' ability to differentiate depression from other clinical disorders. Using taxometric analyses, in this study we sought to test directly whether the MMPI-2 depression scales could differentiate patients with depressive symptoms from patients with other disorders. A large psychiatric sample (N = 2,000) was utilized and analyses were run separately for men and women. Taxometric analyses did not find a MMPI-2 Depression scale cut point that categorizes patients with depressive symptoms from other patients. Rather, these findings support previous studies finding an underlying dimensionality of depression. We discuss implications for MMPI-2 scale use and depression nosology in light of these findings.     

Susceptibility of the MMPI-2 clinical, restructured clinical (RC), and content scales to overreporting and underreporting

The authors examined and compared the susceptibility of three Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scale sets (Clinical, Restructured Clinical [RC], and Content) to over- and underreporting using five analog samples. Two samples of 85 and 191 undergraduate students, respectively, took the MMPI-2 under underreporting versus standard instructions. Three samples consisting of 42 undergraduates, 73 psychiatric inpatients, and 84 medical patients took the MMPI-2 under overreporting versus standard instructions. A comparison of the effect sizes across the three sets of scales indicated that Clinical Scale scores are not less susceptible to distortion than the Content or RC Scales. An apparent lesser susceptibility to underreporting for the Clinical Scales was an artifact of the subtle items' effect on these scales.