The Common Alcohol Logistic-Revised scale (CAL-R): a revised alcoholism scale for the MMPI and MMPI-2

Note on Korbanka and Gaede's MMPI-2 scale of history of emotional abuse

Korbanka and Gaede recently developed an MMPI-2 scale by discriminant analysis to identify people who were emotionally abused in childhood or adolescence. The scale had an exceptionally high classification rate in the initial sample of mental health outpatients, and the authors recommended that it be validated in other samples. This note reinforces the recommendation for cross-validation, examines item overlap with other scales, shows emotionally abused patients responded to many items more positively and with more favorable self-description than emotionally unabused patients, and comments on the method used to develop the scale.

Association between scores on the SAAST (a direct measure of alcohol misuse) and CAL scale (an indirect measure of alcohol misuse) among medical patients admitted for treatment of alcohol dependence

Patients with medical or social problems related to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence frequently are seen in the health care delivery system. Direct and indirect screening methods are available, but contemporary data describing their combined effectiveness have not been reported. We determined the sensitivity of (a) an empirically derived, item-weighted, relatively "indirect" screening measure for alcohol misuse (the Common, Alcohol, Logistic [CAL] scale for the MMPI), (b) a "direct" approach to screening for alcohol misuse (the Self-Administered Alcohol Screening Test [SAAST]), and (c) their combined application. We obtained the responses to both measures from an archival sample of 361 medical patients (89 women, 272 men) who had been diagnosed with alcohol dependence by DSM-III-R criteria. The CAL scale and the SAAST both demonstrated high sensitivity. However, results favored the simultaneous use of a direct-in this study, the SAAST-and an indirect-in this study, the CAL scale-screening procedure.