title: The classification accuracy of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent: effects of modifying the normative sample.
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.
authors.affiliation: Hampton VA Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Hand
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Archer
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Handel
authors.forename: Johnathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Forbey
mesh_terms: D000275:Adjustment Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003376:Counseling; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D019263:Dysthymic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012016:Reference Values; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology