MMPI-A Characteristics of Male Adolescents in Juvenile Justice and Clinical Treatment Settings

Abstract

The current study investigates the extent to which the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) profiles of 196 male adolescents evaluated in a South Carolina detention center could be successfully discriminated from the protocols of 200 male adolescent psychiatric inpatients in three states and 151 dually diagnosed male adolescents. Results showed significant differences in mean T-score values among these three groups of adolescents across a variety of MMPI-A scales and subscales. Results from discriminant function analyses indicate that treatment setting can be predicted effectively from MMPI-A profiles. Beyond the MMPI-A profile differences established for adolescents in these groups, the similarities of adolescents were also noted, particularly in terms of the frequent occurrence of Within-Normal-Limits profiles for adolescents in all groups. Potential directions for future research with the MMPI-A are presented.

Empirically supported forensic assessment.

“…The information provided in this body of literature has clearly established the test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and factor structure of the MMPI-A, in addition to providing extensive correlate information for MMPI-A scales in normal settings, as well as in clinical and forensic settings. These studies, for example, have established the validity of the MMPI-A in predicting external correlates among male juvenile delinquents (Archer, Bolinskey, Morton, & Farris, 2003), boys and girls referred for court-ordered predispositional evaluations (Handel, Archer, Elkins, Mason, & Simonds-Bisbee, 2011), male adolescent sex offenders (Freeman, Dexter-Mazza, & Hoffman, 2005), and incarcerated adolescent substance abusers (Stein & Graham, 2005). While Hathaway and McKinley (1943) did not develop the original form of the MMPI with the specific intention of utilizing this test in forensic evaluations, there have been extensive studies conducted with the MMPI-2 and MMPI-A in forensic settings sufficient to establish the usefulness of the extension of these tests for forensic evaluations.…”

“…Baum et al (2009) noted that of the 277 publications and dissertations on the MMPI-A between 1992 and 2007, 28 publications and 26 dissertations were in the forensic area. These studies, for example, have established the validity of the MMPI-A in predicting external correlates among male juvenile delinquents (Archer, Bolinskey, Morton, & Farris, 2003), boys and girls referred for court-ordered predispositional evaluations (Handel, Archer, Elkins, Mason, & Simonds-Bisbee, 2011), male adolescent sex offenders (Freeman, Dexter-Mazza, & Hoffman, 2005), and incarcerated adolescent substance abusers (Stein & Graham, 2005). The mean and standard deviations typically found for the MMPI-A in juvenile justice samples, as reflected from the findings of 14 studies, were also reported in Baum et al (2009).…”

Forensic uses of clinical assessment instruments.

“…For instance, the use of the MMPI-A to assess substance use in juvenile correctional settings has been supported in the research literature (Stein & Graham, 2001. A substantial body of research, spanning 6 decades, has also supported the ability of the MMPI and MMPI-A to discriminate delinquents from nondelinquents (e.g., R. P. Archer, Bolinskey, Morton, & Farris, 2003;Capwell, 1945aCapwell, , 1945bKatz & Marquette, 1996;Peña, Megargee, & Brody, 1996). 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).…”

Strengths and Limitations of the Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY) in Juvenile Delinquency Assessments

“…It is most relevant and instructive to note that what has been termed a Within Normal Limits (WNL) profile on the MMPI-A, that is, a MMPI-A profile in which neither the validity scales nor the clinical scales are elevated, has been described by Archer, Bolinskey, Morton, and Farris (2003) as a "ubiquitous feature for adolescents evaluated with the MMPI-A across a wide variety of psychiatric, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency settings (Archer, 1997)" (p. 408). This observation by Archer et al (2003) may well have relevance to other standardized, self-report personality assessment inventories, including the PIY. In this light, the absence of significant elevation on the DLQ scale in some studies of adjudicated delinquents is not unexpected, even while most of the PIY profiles for the same youths did not demonstrate elevated scores on the DEF scale, a finding which is comparable with what has been found in many studies with the MMPI-A.…”