The classification accuracy of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent: effects of modifying the normative sample

Assessment. 2007 Mar;14(1):80-5. doi: 10.1177/1073191106291815.

Abstract

Numerous studies have reported that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) produces a high frequency of within-normal-limits basic scale profiles for adolescents with significant clinical pathology (e.g., Archer, 2005). The current study builds on the observation that the MMPI-A normative sample included participants who reported a recent history of referral for counseling or therapy services. The 193 adolescents who reported referral for counseling were removed from the normative sample and uniform T-score values were recalculated for basic clinical scale raw scores. The frequency of within-normal-limits profiles was only marginally reduced by using the revised MMPI-A norms. Furthermore, the overall hit rate, positive predictive power, and sensitivity were only slightly improved by removing normative participants referred for counseling and basing norms on the remaining 1,427 adolescents.

MeSH terms

  • Adjustment Disorders / diagnosis
  • Adjustment Disorders / psychology
  • Adolescent
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / diagnosis
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / psychology
  • Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / diagnosis
  • Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / psychology
  • Conduct Disorder / diagnosis
  • Conduct Disorder / psychology
  • Counseling
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnosis
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / psychology
  • Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry)
  • Dysthymic Disorder / diagnosis
  • Dysthymic Disorder / psychology
  • Female
  • Hospitalization
  • Humans
  • MMPI / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychotherapy
  • Reference Values
  • Referral and Consultation
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Substance-Related Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / psychology