Psychological Assessment

McCann, Joseph T.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.9pmid: N/A

Validity of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–II (MCMI–II) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) personality disorder scales was examined using multitrait–multimethod procedures and factor analyses. Effects of item overlap were also examined by conducting analyses using both overlapping and nonoverlapping scales. Eighty psychiatric inpatients, most of whom had an Axis II personality disorder, were administered the MCMI–II and MMPI. Convergent and discriminant validity of the scales was generally established. The MCMI–II Antisocial and Passive–Aggressive scales performed better than the original MCMI scales, whereas the Obsessive–Compulsive scales failed to reach significant convergence. Although item overlap did not have a general impact on validity, some scales demonstrated better validity in nonoverlapping form, whereas others performed best in overlapping form. The MCMI–II scales yielded a factor structure that closely matched Millon's dimensions of personality, whereas MMPI factors reflected the DSM–III–R personality disorder clusters. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for future study.

Delis, Dean C.; Massman, Paul J.; Butters, Nelson; Salmon, David P.; Cermak, Laird S.; Kramer, Joel H.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.19pmid: N/A

The construct validityof the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was investigated by comparing the CVLTprofiles of Alzheimer, Huntington, and alcoholic Korsakoff patients. Consistent withresults of past experimental studies, the Alzheimer and Korsakoff groups displayed asimilar CVLT profile, with comparable levels of recall, learning and forgetting rates,semantic clustering, primacy–recency effects, recall consistency, intrusion andperseveration rates, vulnerability to interference, and recognition discriminability. TheHuntington patients displayed levels of immediate recall and learning strategiescomparable to those of the other groups, but they showed better retention over time, lowerintrusion rates, less vulnerability to interference, and better recognition performance.The results are discussed in terms of (a) difficulties and common errors that are made inassessing the memory deficits of these populations, and (b) procedures for improving theclinical assessment of memory disorders.

Gass, Carlton S.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.27pmid: N/A

Conventional Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) interpretation is widely applied to the profiles of neurologic patients, despite the test's psychiatric-based interpretative norms and inclusion of items that appear to be descriptive of neurologic dysfunction. This study used 75 closed-head-trauma (CHT) patients to examine the impact of neurologic-symptom items on MMPI–2 profiles. Commonly endorsed items that differentiated this sample from a group of normal adults were factor analyzed. The results revealed that the major source of variance was accounted for by 14 inventory items that are descriptive of the physical and cognitive sequelae of head injury. These neurologic complaint items, which produced significant T score increments on Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia scales constitute a correction factor for recommended use in scoring the MMPI–2 profiles of CHT patients. The importance of content-scale interpretation in the MMPI–2 assessment of brain-injured patients is also emphasized.

Rosen, James C.; Srebnik, Debra; Saltzberg, Elayne; Wendt, Sally

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.32pmid: N/A

The purpose was to design a self-report measure of behavioral tendencies that frequently accompany body-image disturbance. The result was a 19-item questionnaire that dealt with avoidance of situations that provoke concern about physical appearance, such as avoidance of tight-fitting clothes, social outings, and physical intimacy. The Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire had adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The measure correlated highly with negative attitudes about weight and shape and with perceptual distortion of size. It distinguished women with bulimia nervosa from controls, it was sensitive to change following treatment for severe body-image disturbance, and it agreed with external raters. Norms for the measure and the factor structure were also provided. Although body-image disturbance is traditionally viewed as perceptual distortion of body size and negative attitudes about weight and shape, it is recommended that a multidimensional assessment also include attention to behavioral tendencies.

Weiss, Bahr; Weisz, John R.; Politano, Michael; Carey, Michael; Nelson, W. Michael; Finch, A. J.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.38pmid: N/A

The factor structure of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the most widely used self-report measure of depression for children, has been studied, but we still know relatively little about how developmental differences relate to CDI structure. Here, we evaluated whether the CDI factor structure differed in large samples of clinic-referred children versus adolescents. Our results indicated real but modest differences. Both groups produced 5 first-order factors, but the composition of the factors differed somewhat for children versus adolescents. Both groups also produced a 2nd-order, general depression factor, although items loading on the factor differed somewhat for the 2 groups: For children but not adolescents, several externalizing behavior items (e.g., I never do what I am told) loaded on the general factor; in contrast, for adolescents but not children, several vegetative items (e.g., I am tired all the time) loaded on the general factor. Overall, the child-factor pattern appeared to involve fewer CDI items than did the adolescent pattern.

Pilkonis, Paul A.; Heape, Carol L.; Ruddy, Joanne; Serrao, Patricia

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.46pmid: N/A

This study examined the reliability, stability, and clinical and predictive validity of Axis II diagnosis in 40 patients with major depression. Subjects were assessed with the Personality Disorder Examination (PDE) and the Personality Assessment Form (PAF). The clinical validity of these measures was determined by examining their agreement with consensual diagnoses formulated using the LEAD (Longitudinal, Expert, All Data) standard proposed by Spitzer (1983). Interrater reliability for categorical decisions was excellent with the PDE but only fair with the PAF; reliability improved on the PAF when assessed using continuous scores. Stability of diagnoses over a 6-month period was moderate with both the PDE and PAF. Concordance among the 3 methods was limited, with unanimous agreement on 20 of 40 cases (50%) at intake and 18 of 31 cases (58%) at follow up. Patients with personality disorders identified by the LEAD standard consensus (and to a lesser degree, by the PDE) had worse outcomes at the 6-month follow-up assessment.

Nelson, Linda D.; Cicchetti, Domenic

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.55pmid: N/A

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale (Scale D) is used widely by clinicians and researchers, yet evidence suggests that this scale may not represent a valid measure of depression. It has been demonstrated among inpatients, for example, that D scores (vs. total scale) represent truer measures of depression. The present study was designed to examine special properties of D using patients (N = 87)with milder forms of maladjustment (outpatients). Results based on total scale scores supported concurrent and discriminant validity (e.g., r = .60−.69). When obvious and subtle D subscales were derived, however, validity was demonstrated for obvious items only. Total scale scores from D improved on base-rate predictions of depression by about 8%, a figure slightly higher than that found in an earlier study using inpatients.

Ballantyne, Angela O.; Sattler, Jerome M.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.60pmid: N/A

This study investigated the validity and internal consistency reliability of the Reporter's Test, a test of expressive language. The subjects were 50 learning disabled and 50 normally achieving children ages 6 to 9½ years. Measures of expressive and receptive language, intelligence, and attention were used as criterion measures. The results indicated that the Reporter's Test correlated significantly with other measures of language and cognition, loaded on a factor involving structured and functional responses, differentiated normally achieving from learning disabled children, was sensitive to age-related language development, was one of the 3 best predictors of whether a child was in the learning disabled or normally achieving group, and possessed a high degree of internal consistency. The findings support the validity and reliability of the Reporter's Test as a tool for assessing children's expressive-language ability.

Gaston, Louise

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.68pmid: N/A

Aspects of the reliability and criterion-related validity of the patient version of the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scales (CALPAS–P) were examined. The sample consisted of 147 patients consulting in private practice. These patients completed the 24-item CALPAS–P designed to assess 4 alliance dimensions. They also filled out questionnaires on symptomatology (SCL–10), intimacy problems (IIP), social desirability (MC–SDS), and satisfaction (CSQ–8). Coefficients of internal consistency varied from .43 to .73 for the 4 scales and reached .83 for the total CALPAS–P Correlations among CALPAS–P scales ranged from .37 to .62. Patients', therapists', and treatments' characteristics were not related to CALPAS–P scales. Selected CALPAS–P scales were related to symptomatology and intimacy problems, whereas all scales were associated with satisfaction in therapy. No association was found between CALPAS–P scales and estimates of social desirability. Confirmatory factor analysis would help support the theoretically based dimensionality of the CALPAS–P.