This article was downloaded by: [Purdue University] On: 21 January 2015, At: 00:58 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Journal of Personality Assessment Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjpa20
Interpretive Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPIs Charles S. Newmark , Ruth Falk & Alfred J. Finch Jr. Published online: 10 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Charles S. Newmark , Ruth Falk & Alfred J. Finch Jr. (1976) Interpretive Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPIs, Journal of Personality Assessment, 40:3, 266-268, DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4003_5 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4003_5
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Journal of Personality Assessment, 1976,40, 3
Interpretive Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPls CHARLES S. NEWMARK and RUTH FALK University of North Carolina Medical School and ALFRED J. FINCH, JR. Virginia Treatment Center for Children, Richmond
Downloaded by [Purdue University] at 00:58 21 January 2015
Summary: The interpretive accuracy of the standard MMPI and three abbreviated forms was assessed and compared with a sample of psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatric teams evaluated the accuracy of the interpretation of one abbreviated form and the standard form for their patients. Only the MMPI-168 obtained comparable ratings to the standard form.
The recent development of several abbreviated forms of the MMPI has precipitated an avalanche of investigations assessing the practical utility of these instruments. The majority of studies focused solely on comparisons with the standard MMPI of group mean data and individual profile pairs concerning validity, high points, and general evaluations. None of the investigations, however, has dealt with the most crucial issue, namely, is the interpretation of the abbreviated MMPI comparable to that obtained from the standard form. If not, regardless of whether individual and group mean data are comparable, the abbreviated MMPI should not be used. Therefore, the present study investigated the comparative interpretive accuracy of three abbreviated MMPIs and the standard MMPI with a sample of psychiatric inpatients.
Method Subjects The subjects were 245 consecutive admissions to a private psychiatric inpatient facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For numerous reasons, primarily lack of cooperation, confusion, limited intellectual ability, poor insight, or cerebral dysfunction, MMPIs were not obtained from 41 patients. Thirty-nine patients obtained uninterpretable invalid MMPI profiles (F 2 T score of 80, L and K both 2 T score of 70). The'remaining 89 females and 76 males between the ages of 16 and 60 years (M = 36.5), whose education ranged from 8 to 21 years (M =
11.5), served as subjects. There were no significant age or educational differences as a function of sex. Procedure The subjects were tested approximately 48-72 hours following admission as part of the routine screening procedure. A counterbalanced design was used to offset evidence of decreased pathology on repeated MMPI administrations (Kincannon, 1968). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and received both the standard form MMPI and one of three abbreviated forms, namely, the Faschingbauer abbreviated MMPI (FAN) (Faschingbauer, l972), the Hugo short form (Hugo, 1971), or the MMPI-168 (Overall & Gomez-Mont, 1974). Subjects who received the standard form MMPI first then were administered one of the abbreviated forms, while subjects who initially received an abbreviated form then received the standard form MMPI. A test-test interval of approximately 2-8 hours resulted in all .cases. The standard form MMPI answer sheets were hand scored in the traditional manner. The abbreviated MMPIs were scored and converted into standard scale raw scores using the appropriate conversion tables and/or regression equations. Thus, each patient received the standard MMPI and an independent administration of one of three abbreviated MMPIs in a counterbalanced order. Conversion of prorated raw scores to T-scores then was accomplished following standard procedure.
Downloaded by [Purdue University] at 00:58 21 January 2015
Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPIs
268
Downloaded by [Purdue University] at 00:58 21 January 2015
No rules or principles were provided by the interpreter regarding the procedure followed in making his interpretation, which tends to vitiate the possibility for replication. Additionally, the use of psychiatric judges as the final criterion may be subject since no interjudge reliability was available nor was the test-retest reliability of each judge presented. Instead, a consensus ruled. Finally, the 5-point rating scale appears somewhat deficient as there was no substantiation that these 5 points were a true-equal interval scale. Nevertheless, from a practical point of view, there is evidence to suggest that the interpretations of the abbreviated MMPI-168 were comparable to that obtained from the standard form.
References Faschingbauer, T. R. A short written form of the group MMPI. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina,
1972.
Hug,' J. Abbreviation of the MMPI through multiple regression. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama, 1971. Kincannon, J. C. Prediction of the standard MMPI scale scores from 71 items: The Mini-Mult. Journal o f Consulting and ClinicalPsychOzogy~lg6& 319-325Ov?$
Lr~
323
;
~
h
~ ~ ~~ C ~ ~i Z ; ~ ' ~ ~~ ~
and Psychological Measurement, 1974, 34, 315-319. ~ ~ $ l ~ ~ ~ ; ~ $ ~ ~ ~ ~ h h k y school of Medicine University of ~ 0 1 t hCarolina Chapel Hill, N. C. 27514 Received: May 15, 1975
Journal of Personality Assessment Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjpa20
Interpretive Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPIs Charles S. Newmark , Ruth Falk & Alfred J. Finch Jr. Published online: 10 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Charles S. Newmark , Ruth Falk & Alfred J. Finch Jr. (1976) Interpretive Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPIs, Journal of Personality Assessment, 40:3, 266-268, DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4003_5 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4003_5
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Journal of Personality Assessment, 1976,40, 3
Interpretive Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPls CHARLES S. NEWMARK and RUTH FALK University of North Carolina Medical School and ALFRED J. FINCH, JR. Virginia Treatment Center for Children, Richmond
Downloaded by [Purdue University] at 00:58 21 January 2015
Summary: The interpretive accuracy of the standard MMPI and three abbreviated forms was assessed and compared with a sample of psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatric teams evaluated the accuracy of the interpretation of one abbreviated form and the standard form for their patients. Only the MMPI-168 obtained comparable ratings to the standard form.
The recent development of several abbreviated forms of the MMPI has precipitated an avalanche of investigations assessing the practical utility of these instruments. The majority of studies focused solely on comparisons with the standard MMPI of group mean data and individual profile pairs concerning validity, high points, and general evaluations. None of the investigations, however, has dealt with the most crucial issue, namely, is the interpretation of the abbreviated MMPI comparable to that obtained from the standard form. If not, regardless of whether individual and group mean data are comparable, the abbreviated MMPI should not be used. Therefore, the present study investigated the comparative interpretive accuracy of three abbreviated MMPIs and the standard MMPI with a sample of psychiatric inpatients.
Method Subjects The subjects were 245 consecutive admissions to a private psychiatric inpatient facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For numerous reasons, primarily lack of cooperation, confusion, limited intellectual ability, poor insight, or cerebral dysfunction, MMPIs were not obtained from 41 patients. Thirty-nine patients obtained uninterpretable invalid MMPI profiles (F 2 T score of 80, L and K both 2 T score of 70). The'remaining 89 females and 76 males between the ages of 16 and 60 years (M = 36.5), whose education ranged from 8 to 21 years (M =
11.5), served as subjects. There were no significant age or educational differences as a function of sex. Procedure The subjects were tested approximately 48-72 hours following admission as part of the routine screening procedure. A counterbalanced design was used to offset evidence of decreased pathology on repeated MMPI administrations (Kincannon, 1968). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and received both the standard form MMPI and one of three abbreviated forms, namely, the Faschingbauer abbreviated MMPI (FAN) (Faschingbauer, l972), the Hugo short form (Hugo, 1971), or the MMPI-168 (Overall & Gomez-Mont, 1974). Subjects who received the standard form MMPI first then were administered one of the abbreviated forms, while subjects who initially received an abbreviated form then received the standard form MMPI. A test-test interval of approximately 2-8 hours resulted in all .cases. The standard form MMPI answer sheets were hand scored in the traditional manner. The abbreviated MMPIs were scored and converted into standard scale raw scores using the appropriate conversion tables and/or regression equations. Thus, each patient received the standard MMPI and an independent administration of one of three abbreviated MMPIs in a counterbalanced order. Conversion of prorated raw scores to T-scores then was accomplished following standard procedure.
Downloaded by [Purdue University] at 00:58 21 January 2015
Accuracy of Abbreviated MMPIs
268
Downloaded by [Purdue University] at 00:58 21 January 2015
No rules or principles were provided by the interpreter regarding the procedure followed in making his interpretation, which tends to vitiate the possibility for replication. Additionally, the use of psychiatric judges as the final criterion may be subject since no interjudge reliability was available nor was the test-retest reliability of each judge presented. Instead, a consensus ruled. Finally, the 5-point rating scale appears somewhat deficient as there was no substantiation that these 5 points were a true-equal interval scale. Nevertheless, from a practical point of view, there is evidence to suggest that the interpretations of the abbreviated MMPI-168 were comparable to that obtained from the standard form.
References Faschingbauer, T. R. A short written form of the group MMPI. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina,
1972.
Hug,' J. Abbreviation of the MMPI through multiple regression. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama, 1971. Kincannon, J. C. Prediction of the standard MMPI scale scores from 71 items: The Mini-Mult. Journal o f Consulting and ClinicalPsychOzogy~lg6& 319-325Ov?$
Lr~
323
;
~
h
~ ~ ~~ C ~ ~i Z ; ~ ' ~ ~~ ~
and Psychological Measurement, 1974, 34, 315-319. ~ ~ $ l ~ ~ ~ ; ~ $ ~ ~ ~ ~ h h k y school of Medicine University of ~ 0 1 t hCarolina Chapel Hill, N. C. 27514 Received: May 15, 1975
