Assessing Depression in Russian Psychiatric Patients: Validity of MMPI and Rorschach

Abstract

We tested the criterion, concurrent, and content validity of depression indicators in 180 Russian psychiatric patients. Indicators from the Exner Rorschach (DEPI, CDI) and the Russian MMPI (Berezin Scale 2, Wiggins depression content) were compared to Hamilton (HRSD) scores and 3 types of diagnosis: traditional Russian, contemporary Western (ICD-10), and a mixed version. The MMPI scales had significant associations with each other and each criterion. The Rorschach indexes were unrelated to all other variables, even when their affective, cognitive, and interpersonal components were analyzed separately, response styles were taken into account, or the 2 indexes were used in combination. Nevertheless, sample means on 107 variables were roughly similar to Exner's norms. The study represents an initial step towards establishing the validity of instruments commonly used in Russia and North America for assessing depression among Russians.

Association of Rorschach and MMPI Psychosis Indicators and Schizophrenia Spectrum Diagnoses in a Russian Clinical Sample

“…This is the same sample used in a previous article (Ritsher et al, 2001) focusing on indicators of depression. Of these 180 participants, 108 were inpatients at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Research Center for Mental Health (RCMH).…”

“…For example, the threshold for clinical significance was substantially raised for Scales 2 and 4, and the subject of the items was changed from "I" to "you." In terms of content, Berezin et al's (1994) version is more similar to the MMPI-2 than to the original MMPI because most of the same changes made to the MMPI to create the MMPI-2 were also made to the MMPI to create the Berezin et al's (1994) version of the MMPI (for further details, see Ritsher, 1998). For example, many items in the original MMPI that pertain to bowel function and religion are absent from both the MMPI-2 and Berezin et al's (1994) MMPI.…”

“…For the Rorschach, Exner's (1991Exner's ( , 1993Exner's ( , 1995 American norms were used. The psychological testing data was collected expressly for this project and involved rigorous training and monitoring of standardized procedures (see also Ritsher et al, 2001). The diagnostic…”

“…The Rorschach has been used in many cultures and is commonly used in Russia (e.g., Bespalko, 1985). However, the CS is not widely used there and its validity for use in Russia has not been well established (Ritsher, Slivko-Kolchik, & Oleichik, 2001).…”

Effective use of projective techniques in clinical practice: Let the data help with selection and interpretation.

“…This is true for both adults and adolescents. For example, six of eight studies conducted independently of the Rorschach Workshops found no significant relation between the revised DEPI and psychiatric diagnoses (Archer & Krishnamurthy, 1997;Ball, Archer, Gordon, & French, 1991;Caine, Frueh, & Kinder, 1995;Meyer, 1993;Ritsher, Slivko-Kolchik, & Oleichik, 2001;Sells, 1990Sells, / 1991; see also Meyer, 2001a), one study yielded mixed results (Ilonen et al, 1999), and only one study yielded unmixed positive results (Jansak, 1996(Jansak, /1997.…”