The Validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 correction factors
Date
1996
Authors
Brulot, Magali Marie-Pierre
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Abstract
Endorsement of certain Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) items is thought to artificially inflate some standard clinical scales in patients with closed head injury (CHI). Correction factors have been established (e.g. Alfano et al., 1993; Artzy, 1994; Gass, 1991 b) by comparing item endorsement by patients with CHI to that of controls, and selecting items unique to the CHI population.
The present study aimed to assess the validity of the correction factors by relating these to indices of head injury severity and to scores on standard neuropsychological measures. Results revealed no significant correlation between the correction factors and two commonly used measures of severity of CHI- loss of consciousness (LOC) and post traumatic amnesia (PTA). In addition, no significant correlations were found between correction factors and performance on neuropsychological tests. Significant correlations were found, however, between correction factors and the MMPI-2 depression content scale despite the fact that item overlap between the factors and the scale was minimal. These results suggest that the correction factors proposed for interpreting MMPI-2 protocols of head injured individuals may be more sensitive to depression than to closed head injury.