Susceptibility of the MMPI-2 Clinical, Restructured Clinical (RC), and Content Scales to Overreporting and Underreporting

Assessing Impression Management With the MMPI-2 in Child Custody Litigation

Forensic psychological evaluation of parents in child custody litigation is primarily focused on evaluating parenting capacity and underreporting. The biased responses of underreporting have been classified as Impression Management (IM) or as Self-Deceptive Positivity (S-DP), which are regarded to be conscious or unconscious in nature, respectively. A field study was undertaken to assess impression management on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in child custody cases, the accuracy of the MMPI-2 scales in classifying IM, and what parents in child custody litigation actually manipulate in terms of IM. A total of 244 parents in child custody litigation and 244 parents under standard instructions were administered the MMPI-2. The results revealed that the L, Mp, Wsd, and Od scales discriminated between both samples of parents; the rate of satisfactory classification (i.e., odds ratio ranged from 5.7 for Wsd to 23.3 for Od) and an incremental validity of Od over Mp and Wsd. As for the effects of IM, the results show IM effects in the Basic Clinical Scales, the Restructured Clinical Scales, the Personality Psychopathology Five Scales, the Content Scales, and the Supplementary Scales. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to the forensic evaluation of parents in child custody litigation.

The Impact of Overreporting on MMPI-2-RF Substantive Scale Score Validity

This study examined the impact of overreporting on the validity of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2—Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) substantive scale scores by comparing correlations with relevant external criteria (i.e., validity coefficients) of individuals who completed the instrument under instructions to (a) feign psychopathology or (b) feign somatic complaints, with validity findings for a control group of individuals who completed the MMPI-2-RF under standard instructions. Validity coefficients for MMPI-2-RF substantive scale scores were much weaker for feigners than for controls. The authors also found mean profiles to be more elevated for feigners than for controls. Effects were more extreme for psychopathology feigners than for somatic feigners. The results demonstrate the detrimental effect that overreporting psychopathology or somatic problems has on the validity of MMPI-2-RF scale scores. The findings illustrate the need for validity indices in self-report measures of personality and psychopathology.

Detecting Comorbid Axis-II Status Among Inpatients Using the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical Scales

This study examined the differential diagnostic utility of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical Scales (RCS) and Clinical Scales (CS) in detecting a complex multivariate clinical phenomenon: that is, comorbid Axis-II status in two matched samples of inpatients. Psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with either substance use disorder (n = 43) or major depression (n = 49) were matched on age, sex, and clinical setting, and compared with patients with the same Axis-I disorder and a comorbid personality disorder. Presence or absence of a comorbid personality disorder was chosen to provide a potent test of the differential diagnostic utility of the RCS versus CS when using a highly complex, multivariate criterion variable. Using hierarchical logistic regression analyses, the RCS consistently demonstrated higher diagnostic utility. Moreover, the RCS profiles were significantly more focused and more readily interpretable, relative to the CS profiles that were remarkably similar across disorders. These findings provide further support for the diagnostic and clinical utility of the RCS.

Further evidence on the validity of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales: addressing questions raised by Rogers, Sewell, Harrison, and Jordan and Nichols

The reviews by Rogers, Sewell, Harrison, and Jordan (2006/this issue), and by Nichols (2006/this issue) offer markedly contrasting appraisals of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales introduced by Tellegen et al. (2003). The one common feature is that both reviews draw on the same atypical MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) data set for their empirical analyses, with results warranting critical scrutiny. Rogers et al.'s critique provides an evaluation of the RC Scales from the perspective of Jackson's (1970) method of test development. One significant issue in Rogers et al.'s review concerns social desirability, prompting us to clarify our own views on this topic. We also highlight and discuss problems associated with Rogers et al.'s use of the unrepresentative data set. Nichols's polemical critique neglects empirical and theoretical support for demoralization as a central construct and misconstrues as "construct drift" the purposeful process of developing the RC scales. Nichols's criticisms and proposals overlook requirements for assessing syndromes and for construct validation and even rudiments of scale development. Our reply incorporates evidence, including new findings, refuting his criticisms and confirming that demoralization is a pervasive MMPI dimension, that the RC Scales capture the major distinctive features of the original Clinical Scales, and that they generate correspondingly meaningful validity patterns.

The relationship between facial skeletal class and expert-rated interpersonal skill: an epidemiological survey on young Italian adults

BACKGROUND

The facial region plays a major role in determining physical attractiveness, so we assessed the hypothesis that the capability of successfully managing interpersonal relationships in young adults might be related to the facial skeletal class.

METHODS

1,014 young subjects applying to the Military Academy of Pozzuoli, Italy, were enrolled and the cephalometric evaluation was performed by calculating the angular relationships between skeletal points localized by the lateral cephalogram of the face, sorting the subjects in three groups corresponding to each major facial skeletal class. Concurrently, the subjects were evaluated by a team of psychiatrists administering the MMPI-2 test followed by a brief colloquium with each candidate, in order to identify those subjects characterized by low skills for managing interpersonal relationships.

RESULTS

According to the psychiatric evaluation about 20% of the subjects were considered potentially unable to manage successfully interpersonal relationships (NS). Males displayed an about two-fold increased risk of being NS. No differences were shown in the distribution of the NS male subjects among the three different facial skeletal classes. On the other hand, NS females displayed a different distribution among the three facial skeletal classes, with a trend of about two-fold and four-fold, respectively, for those subjects belonging to classes II and III, respect to those belonging to class I.

CONCLUSION

Females may be more sensitive to physical factors determining beauty, such as the facial morphology certainly is. This finding appears to be interesting especially when thinking about possible orthodontic interventions, although further study is certainly needed to confirm these results.