Premium
Concurrent validity of the MMPI‐A in a counseling program for juvenile offenders
Author(s) -
Toyer Edward A.,
Weed Nathan C.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199806)54:4<395::aid-jclp1>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - minnesota multiphasic personality inventory , psychology , hypomania , concurrent validity , clinical psychology , anger , juvenile delinquency , millon clinical multiaxial inventory , scale (ratio) , test validity , psychiatry , personality , psychometrics , personality disorders , social psychology , mania , bipolar disorder , mood , internal consistency , physics , quantum mechanics
This study was conducted to examine the concurrent validity of the MMPI‐A (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory‐Adolescent) in an adolescent offender setting. From a sample of 50 court‐adjudicated youths participating in an outpatient counseling program, 42 valid MMPI‐A profiles were obtained, 33 of which were accompanied by counselor ratings of behavior problems. The highest mean elevations on the MMPI‐A were on scales MAC‐R (MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale‐Revised), A‐Con (Adolescent Conduct Problems), A‐Sch (Adolescent School Problems), Pd (Psychopathic Deviate), and IMM (Adolescent Immaturity). Counselor ratings of behavior problems correlated highly with scales ACK (Alcohol and Drug Acknowledgment Scale), A‐Sch, A‐Ang (Adolescent Anger Problems), Ma (Hypomania), and PRO (Alcohol/Drug Problem Proneness). This pattern of results supports the concurrent validity of the MMPI‐A for use in this setting. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 54: 395–399, 1998.