Loss of Discriminative “Power” of the MMPI with Older Psychiatric Patients

Negro vs Caucasian psychological test performance revisited.

“…A more complex explanation would seem to handle these and other data (Dreger & Miller, 1968;Gynther, 1972;Costello et al, 1972;Davis et al, 1974) best. With poorly educated groups or randomly selected groups where the majority of Negroes are apt to be poorly educated, Negroes would be expected to perform in a more pathological direction than most random samples of Caucasians who are similar in characteristics such as type of psychopathology.…”

Age differences in MMPI scale scores from 1,189 psychiatric patients

“…In the past decade, differences between the MMPI profiles of adults and adolescents have been examined thoroughly (e.g., Green, 1980;Marks, Seeman, & Haller, 1974;Watson, Harris, Johnson, & LaBeck, 1983). The differences in MMPI profiles of Ss that span adult years (with particular emphasis on normal aging) have received increased attention in recent years, but descriptions of age-related MMPI differences in clinical populations remain incomplete (Dahlstrom, Welsh, & Dahlstrom, 1972Davis, Mozdzierz, & Macchitelli, 1973;Harmatz & Shader, 1975;Leon, Gillum, Gillum, & Gouze, 1979;Newark, Gentry, Simpson, & Jones, 1978;Newark & Hutchins, 1980;Pearson, Swenson, & Rowe, 1965;Swenson, Pearson, & Osborne, 1973).…”

Discriminative effectiveness for two psychiatric screening instruments for a gerontological population.

“…The most frequently used screening devices for these disorders are geared to and have norms based on younger nongeriatric populations. Recently, for instance, Davis, Mozdzierz, and Macchitelli (1973) reported loss of discriminative power of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) with older patients. This study investigated the ability of two scales that have been developed specifically for the purpose of geriatric screening of psychiatrically impaired from nonpsychiatrically impaired subjects.…”