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“Mental imbalance” and the prediction of recurrent delinquent behavior
Author(s) -
Lindgren Scott D.,
Harper Dennis C.,
Richman Lynn C.,
Stehbens James A.
Publication year - 1986
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 - 10.1002/1097-4679(198609)42:5<821::aid-jclp2270420525>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - psychology , neuroticism , minnesota multiphasic personality inventory , personality , cognition , intelligence quotient , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social psychology
Cognitive and personality patterns of 84 court‐referred adolescents were examined to identify predictors of recurrent delinquent behavior. Continued behavioral problems at follow‐up were more likely in adolescents with discrepancies between Verbal and Performance IQ or large differences between “neurotic” and “psychotic” scale elevations on the MMPI. Positive outcomes were most likely for adolescents who could be described as “mildly neurotic.” Combining the discrepancy scores from the intelligence and personality tests with other background variables in a Bayesian conditional probability model resulted in accurate predictions of later behavior for 81% of the sample. These findings suggest that imbalances in cognitive and personality development may limit a delinquent adolescent's ability to interact appropriately with the environment.