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This study examined Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) responding among 61 adolescent sex offenders accused of Sexual Abuse (n = 22), Rape (n = 19), and Sodomy (n = 18) and 15 adolescents without a history of sexual offending admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit. Results indicated significant differences between sex offenders and inpatients as well as among sex offender groups on both single-scale elevations and 2-point code types. Contrary to previous research, adolescents in the sex offender groups demonstrated significantly more psychopathology than those in the inpatient sample. Subjects in the Sodomy group achieved the highest clinical scale elevations and were more likely to have scales associated with significant psychopathology as one of their 2-point pairs. In general, increased psychopathology was associated with increased sexual deviancy. That is, subjects in the sexual offender groups evidenced more psychopathology than inpatients and the more deviant Sodomy and Rape groups evidenced more psychological disturbance on the MMPI than Sexual Abuser subjects. Results indicate that the MMPI can be useful in providing both quantitative and qualitative distinctions among adolescent sex offenders.

This study examined whether clinicians employ a hierarchical model in the diagnosis of personality disorders. Using a methodology developed by Morey and Ochoa (1989), the study compared how clinicians diagnose patients (clinical diagnoses) to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria they endorsed for each patient (criterion diagnoses). A national sample of 320 clinicians served as subjects. When cases were examined in which the patients met diagnostic criteria for two or more personality disorders, clinicians used the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder more frequently. They failed to use other diagnoses whose criteria these patients met. Narcissistic personality disorder also appeared to have diagnostic dominance, although somewhat less striking than for borderline. These results suggest that clinicians do view the personality disorders as hierarchical, with borderline clearly identified as the dominant disorder.

This study examined the relative efficacy of the Wiener-Harmon subtle-obvious subscales in identifying fake-bad and fake-good response sets among adolescents. Four hundred and two adolescents ages 12-18 years, inclusive, composed the following 4 assessment groups: (a) nonpatient adolescents; (b) psychiatric inpatients; (c) nonpatients instructed to fake bad; and (d) psychiatric inpatients instructed to fake good. The classification accuracy rates for identification of response sets for the subtle-obvious subscales were compared with findings obtained through the use of the traditional validity scales. The subtle-obvious subscales did not contribute to the detection of response sets beyond levels obtainable through the use of the standard validity scales, L. F, and K.

This study examined the presence of PTSD symptoms across time in a community exposed to serial murder. One hundred eighty four subjects (48% response rate) responded to the initial survey while 64 and 30 subjects, respectively, participated in the 9- and 18-month follow-up studies. Results indicated widespread endorsement of PTSD symptoms following the murders. The most severe reactions were found among residents demographically similar to the victims. PTSD symptoms, while not transient, appeared to decrease over time with few subjects still reporting symptoms at 18 months. These data suggest that violent acts such as serial murder can have far reaching psychological consequences for the community and result in vicarious victimization.