Alfred L. Brophy

MMPI and MMPI-2 scores on the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale.

Raw-score means of the Cook-Medley Hostility scale are smaller in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) normative group than in the MMPI normative group, and T scores are larger. The results contrast with those for the clinical scales but are consistent with results for some other scales. Reasons for the different patterns of MMPI and MMPI-2 scores are discussed.

PROVISIONAL STATISTICS FOR MMPI-2 DEPENDENCY, PREJUDICE, SOCIAL STATUS, CONTROL, AND LOW BACK PAIN SCALES

Provisional statistics are provided for MMPI-2 Dependency (Dy), Prejudice (Pr), Social Status (St), Control (Cn), and Low Back Pain (Lb) scales. The statistics were derived primarily from the 1957 MMPI normative sample of Hathaway and Briggs, but means also are given for the MMPI-2 normative group. Both men and women in the MMPI-2 group scored higher than the MMPI sample on St and Lb but lower on Dy, Pr, and Cn.

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, OCCUPATION, AND THE MMPI-2 F-K INDEX

The relationship between the F-K dissimulation index and educational and occupational level was examined in the MMPI-2 normative group. Higher levels of education and occupation are associated with higher scores on the K scale and with lower scores on the F scale and the F-K index. Mean F-K scores differ by 5 to 7 points between the lowest and highest educational and occupational levels, necessitating consideration of those factors when interpreting the index. The effects of education and occupation on the F-K index are similar for men and women in the MMPI-2 normative group.

Goldberg's Index to Diagnose Psychosis Vs Neurosis from the MMPI-2

Comparisons were made of Goldbergs (1965) psychotic index on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the MMPI-2. It is recommended that MMPI T scores be used to calculate the MMPI-2 Goldberg index.

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 eatings 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.

Atypicality of norms for the Strong Interest Inventory.

The Strong Interest Inventory uses large up-to-date norming groups for many scales, but the groups have exceptionally high education. Scores based on the atypical norms should be interpreted cautiously. The effect of the groups on construction of the occupational and nonoccupational scales is discussed.

Desirability of Old and New MMPI-2 Items

Desirability ratings and endorsements are significantly lower for new MMPI-2 items than for MMPI-2 items that initially appeared on the MMPI. Interpretation of the findings is uncertain because different samples rated the desirability of the old and new items. Ratings of all items by a single sample are required.

Note on an MMPI-2 Scale of Early Sexual Abuse

The mean of 191 female psychiatric inpatients on the Griffith, Myers, and Tankersley (1996) MMPI-2 scale of childhood sexual abuse was compared with means of 2 community samples (58 sexually abused women and 57 nonabused women). The mean of the patients was substantially larger than that of the nonabused women but slightly larger than that of the abused women. The scale may measure general maladjustment or psychopathology instead of, or in addition to, specific sequelae of sexual abuse. Further investigation is necessary to cross-validate the scale in community samples and to examine whether scores differentiate abused and nonabused women in clinical samples. This note illustrates use of an archival data set with results of recent research.

Cooke's disturbance index on the MMPI-2

The shortened scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 can affect the magnitude of Cookes 1967 disturbance index. Methods are given to adjust scores on those scales before calculating the index.

Comment on Merydith and Phelps (2009): “Convergent Validity of the MMPI–A and MACI Scales of Depression”

In 2009, Merydith and Phelps reported convergent validity of scales in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent (MMPI–A) and the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI) that assess depression with a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients. This comment addresses analysis of these data, cites selected research on sex and the two inventories, and restates the recommendation that researchers routinely examine such data separately by sex before proceeding with combined-sex analyses.