Racial bias in personality assessment: using the MMPI-2 to predict psychiatric diagnoses of African American and Caucasian chemical dependency inpatients.
An assessment of predictive bias was conducted on numerous scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989), including the Restructured Clinical (RC) scales, in the prediction of clinical diagnostic status for African American and Caucasian male veterans seeking substance abuse treatment. Patients completed a battery of self-report instruments and were administered structured diagnostic interviews. African American patients obtained higher scores across most MMPI-2 scales compared with Caucasians with clinically meaningful elevations (T scores > 5 points) on 3 scales. The RC scales demonstrated strong correlations with diagnoses, however, like other MMPI-2 scales examined in this study, they displayed a general trend of predictive bias. Step-down hierarchical regression procedures (G. J. Lautenschlager & J. L. Mendoza, 1986) indicated the presence of predictive bias for a majority of the scales examined; however, most of these effects were small to modest (accounting for 3%-5% of variance). The pattern of slope and intercept biases across types of MMPI-2 scales differs from prior research and indicates the importance of evaluating bias in various populations and settings.
Monnot
Matthew J
MJ
Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University. Organization Development, Genetech, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA. monnot.matthew@gene.com
Quirk
Stuart W
SW
Hoerger
Michael
M
Brewer
Linda
L
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015897:Comorbidity; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011287:Prejudice; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011822:Race Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data