The Carlson Psychological Survey with adolescents: Norms and scales reliabilities.

Abstract

The Carlson Psychological Survey is a personality inventory designed for use with incarcerated young adults. The present study examined several psychometric properties of this test with a male adolescent offender population. The test's four content scales (Chemical Abuse, Thought Disturbance, Antisocial Tendencies, and Self-Depreciation) were found to be internally consistent, reliable over time, moderately intercorrelated, and generally unrelated to age, IQ, or social desirability. The test's validity scale was found to be less reliable than the content scales. Adolescent norms were calculated and were found to be similar to Carlson's (1981) young adult norms. Overall, the Carlson Psychological Survey was recommended as a personality screening test for young offenders.

Racial identity, academic achievement, and the psychological well-being of economically disadvantaged adolescents.

“…Originally designed for use with adults, the MCSD is a 33-item inventory that has been shortened to 31 items for use with adolescents. This version has been used extensively to assess adolescents' tendencies to present themselves in socially desirable manners within both real-life situations and experimental conditions (Enright, Lapsley, Cullen, & Lallensack, 1983; Wright & Friesen, 1985). Studies of the MCSD's correlation with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) lie scale and with other measures of social desirability have demonstrated its validity; adequate alpha coefficients of internal consistency have also been reported (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960).…”

Development and Preliminary Validation of a Defendant and Offender Screening Tool for Psychopathology in Inmate Populations

“…The Carlson Psychological Survey (Carlson, 1981) has been developed as a self-report screening tool for psychopathology and substance abuse in criminal populations. This measure has demonstrated adequate reliability with both adult (Carlson, 1981) and adolescent (Wright & Friesen, 1985) populations. Similarly, the Referral Decision Scale (Teplin & Schwartz, 1989), a brief 14-item measure designed as a screener for mental illness in individuals entering correctional settings, is available.…”