MMPI Validity Scales and Behavioral Disturbance in Psychiatric Inpatients

Sixty psychiatric inpatients were assigned to one of three groups on the basis of F and K MMPI validity scales. Staff ratings of patient behavior and recorded incidents of "acting-out" behavior were obtained for patients with: (a) "plea for help" validity profiles, (b) hyper-defe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality assessment 1979-04, Vol.43 (2), p.155-159
Main Authors: Post, Robin Dee, Gasparikova-Krasnec, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acting Out
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Defense Mechanisms
Female
Hospitals, Psychiatric
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders - psychology
MMPI
Psychometrics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sixty psychiatric inpatients were assigned to one of three groups on the basis of F and K MMPI validity scales. Staff ratings of patient behavior and recorded incidents of "acting-out" behavior were obtained for patients with: (a) "plea for help" validity profiles, (b) hyper-defensive profiles, and (c) average profiles. Patients with "plea for help"profiles were perceived as "acting out" more frequently and engendering more feelings of frustration than patients in the other groups. These patients account for 77% of the incidents of inappropriate, destructive behavior and 83% of the seclusions in the patients sampled. Although the "plea for help"profile is considered invalid in some scoring systems, results suggest that this validity profile may be useful in treatment planning.
ISSN:0022-3891
1532-7752
DOI:10.1207/s15327752jpa4302_8