The Development of a PTSD Scale for the Adolescent Version of the MMPI
Abstract
When hospitalized adolescents have a history of trauma, it can be challenging to determine whether their symptoms and deficits are due to the impact of the experienced trauma, other co-occurring diagnoses, or something entirely different in nature. Therefore, identification and rule-out of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is of crucial importance in the diagnosis of inpatient adolescents. Although the PK scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and MMPI-2 were modified and applied to the adolescent version (MMPI-A) to assess for PTSD in adolescents. Research suggests that this subscale’s ability to identify PTSD symptoms in adolescents is limited. Therefore, using a large sample of inpatient adolescents, the present study aimed to explore the viability of developing an embedded PTSD scale within the MMPI-A that will identify PTSD characteristics in adolescents. Using an archival sample of data, this study used a split-sample procedure. The embedded PTSD scale was developed by selecting those items that had clinically significant elevations on the PALA Traumatic Stress (ARD-T) and mean elevation on all Anxiety (ANX-C, ANX-P, ANX-A) subscales. Once these items were assembled into a scale, scale validation was carried out by determining the sensitivity, specificity, and correct classification rate for identification of this scale in the other half of the sample. A second effort at cross-validation took place by carrying out correlational and Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analyses between this scale and a subsample of adolescents who had also been administered the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). Finally, a comparison of this newly developed adolescent MMPI-A PTSD scale with those items from the adult PTSD (PK) scale that are also on the MMPI-A was carried out.
Subject Area
Psychology|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Javani, Sonia, "The Development of a PTSD Scale for the Adolescent Version of the MMPI" (2021). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI28943428.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI28943428
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