Assessment of 13-Year-Old Adolescents with the MMPI-A RF: Developmental Aspects of Validity Correlates in an Inpatient Sample

Shannon Castellini, Pace University

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a broadband instrument created to assess personality pathology in adults ages 16-65 (Hathaway & McKinley, 1942). Various revisions have been made to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory since its original publication in 1942 in order to strengthen its applicability to adolescent populations. In 1992, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory­–Adolescent (MMPI-A) was published (Butcher et al., 1992). Since the publication of the MMPI-A, it has become one of the most widely used personality measures in the assessment of adolescents (Archer, Maruish, Imhof, & Piotrowski, 1 991; Archer & Newsom, 2000). Despite a normative sample of adolescents 14-18 years of age, the measure is commonly administered to 13-year old adolescents for diagnostic and research purposes ( e.g., see Archer and Gordon, 1994; Alperin, Archer, & Coates, 1996; Archer, Bolinskey, Morton, & Farris, 2003; Veltri et al., 2009). While the MMPI-A manual suggests that this measure can be extended for use with younger adolescents (Butcher et al., 1992), few studies have analyzed the difference between younger and older adolescent responses. Within the limited literature on this topic, the differences between 13-year-old and 14-year old adolescent responses on the MMPI-A were found to be insignificant when assessed within a small inpatient sample (Janus et al., 1998). In 2016, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent Restructured Form (MMPI-A RF; Archer, Handel, Ben-Porath, & Tellegen, 2016) was published by the University of Minnesota Press. Similar to the MMPI-A (Butcher et al., 1992), the MMPI-A RF advises that if a younger adolescent meets appropriate cognitive and social maturity, it is possible that they can produce valid responses. The manual of and social maturity, it is possible that they can produce valid responses. The manual of he MMPI-A RF (Archer et al., 2016) includes the following: Because the MMPI-A RF is considerably shorter than the MMPI-A, it should be easier for younger adolescents to complete the inventory. However, test users should bear in mind that neither 12 or 13 year olds are included in the MMPI-A RF normative sample and that a substantial segment of this younger age group may not be able to meet the reading requirements for the MMPI-A. Therefore, test users need to exercise caution when interpreting test results of 12- and 13-year olds until further research bears out the utility of the instrument with younger adolescents (pg. 61). Since the publication of the MMPI-A RF in 2016, the applicability and validity of the MMPI-A-RF with 13-year old adolescent populations has received limited attention. This study assesses the applicability of this instrument with younger adolescents using an archival data set derived from an adolescent inpatient sample. This study addressed whether age related changes exist among 13-year-old and older adolescent profiles for the MMPI-A RF Validity, Higher-Order Scales, Restructured Clinical Scales, Specific Problems and Personality Psychopathology Five Scales. This research also conducted convergent validity analyses for the MMPI-A RF using the Personality Assessment Inventory and chart reviewed adolescent behaviors. Taken together, this study sheds light on the applicability of this instrument with 13-year-old adolescents and contributes to existing literature on adolescent personality development.

Subject Area

Psychology|Personality psychology|Clinical psychology

Recommended Citation

Castellini, Shannon, "Assessment of 13-Year-Old Adolescents with the MMPI-A RF: Developmental Aspects of Validity Correlates in an Inpatient Sample" (2020). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI28622324.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI28622324

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