Characteristics of Juvenile Offenders with Invalid and Valid MMPI-A Profiles

Abstract

The issue of what type of juvenile offender produces an invalid versus a valid Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Adolescent Form (MMPI-A) profile requires study. Using technical manual profile invalidation requirements from a cohort sample of 1,054 juvenile offenders, 387 produced invalid profiles, whereas 667 yielded valid profiles. Utilizing scale scores from the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI), univariate and multivariate analyses for girls, boys, and combined samples of invalid and valid MMPI-A profiles suggested similarities and differences which influenced the results for the combined samples. The groups were separated on the following MACI scales: Disclosure, Impulsivity, Substance Abuse Propensity, Unruly, and Oppositional by sex and for the combined group. Also noted were other MACI scales which distinguished boys and girls in comparisons made between as well as within the invalid and valid profiles.

Forensic uses of clinical assessment instruments.

“…Research has also examined MMPI-A scale scores across juveniles presenting with varying types of criminal offenses (Freeman, Dexter-Mazza, & Hoffman, 2005;Glaser, Calhoun, & Petrocelli, 2002;Losada-Paisey, 1998;Parker, Morton, Lingefelt, & Johnson, 2005). The samples in published research have been diverse and have included adolescents in correctional placements (i.e., Cashel, Ovaert, & Holliman, 2000;Stein & Graham, 1999), male and female adolescents adjudicated delinquent (i.e., Fabry, Bertinetti, & Guzman-Cavazos, 2011;Gumbiner, Arriaga, & Stevens, 1999;Morton, Farris, & Brenowitz, 2002), predispositional adolescents (Handel, Archer, Elkins, Mason, & Simonds-Bisbee, 2011), and male sexual offenders (Freeman et al, 2005;Losada-Paisey, 1998). Research addressing civil forensic evaluation with the MMPI-A (e.g., custody evaluations or personal injury litigation) has been much more limited.…”