Adolescence is characterised by a higher prevalence of risk-taking and the challenging of social norms, which appears to bear a relationship to personal abilities and social-cognitive deficits. With the aim of understanding this relationship, a comparative study was undertaken with two groups of adolescents, one belonging to the standard population and one comprising young people who have been subject to correctional measures. In order to evaluate the variables involved, use was made of the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Psychopathology in Adolescence (Q-PAD). The results obtained show that both groups display significant differences in all the variables considered in the Questionnaire, with the exception of those relating to body dissatisfaction and family conflicts. Succinctly, it emerged that the juvenile offenders had emotional and interpersonal problems and were at risk of psychological disturbance. They demonstrated uncertainty about the future, liability to substance abuse, and issues of self-esteem. These results suggest the need for prevention and intervention programmes which specifically take into account these variables. ResumenLa adolescencia constituye una etapa caracterizada por una mayor prevalencia de conductas de riesgo y antinormativas que se relacionan con competencias personales y sociocognitivas deficitarias. Al objeto de conocer dicha relación, se llevó a cabo un estudio comparativo con dos grupos de adolescentes -uno perteneciente a la población normal (n = 35) y el otro compuesto por jóvenes sujetos a medidas de reforma (n = 44) -. Para la evaluación de las variables objeto de estudio se utilizó el Cuestionario para la Evaluación de Problemas en Adolescentes (Q-PAD). Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que ambos grupos presentan diferencias significativas en todas las variables contempladas en el instrumento a excepción de las relativas a la insatisfacción corporal y a los conflictos familiares. Sucintamente, se encontró que los menores infractores presentan problemas emocionales, interpersonales, de riesgo psicosocial, incertidumbre sobre el futuro, abuso de sustancias y de autoestima. Los resultados sugieren la necesidad de programas de prevención e intervención que contemplen dichas variables de forma específica.

A study was designed to find out whether MMPI-2 validity scales and indexes differentiate between truefibromyalgia sufferers, patients with chronic organic pain and normal people, as well as whether they arecorrectly classified. 105 subjects participated in the study, 27 diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 44 withchronic organic pain and 34 were healthy people, who answered the MMPI-2 following standardinstructions. The results showed that fibromyalgia patients scored higher than the control group in the F,Fb, F-K, Fp, Ds, and FBS scales and indexes and that patients with chronic organic pain scored higher in theDs and FBS scales than the control group. The case study revealed that the F, Fb, F-K, Fp, Ds, and FBS scalesand indexes over-diagnose malingering in patients with fibromyalgia, both in comparison with the clinicalpopulation and with the normative group. Likewise, patients with chronic organic pain were overdiagnosedas malingerers by all the scales and indexes in comparison with the normative population andby the Fp and FBS scales in comparison with the clinical population. In addition, it was found that at leastone of the scales for measuring defensiveness –L, Wsd and Mp– classified 79.5% of the truly ill patients asfaking good. The implications for clinical and forensic practice are discussed, as well as for the definition ofdecision criteria and the (re)classification as true negatives of genuine cases classified as malingerers bythe malingering measuring scales and indexes