Identifying faking bad on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent with Mexican Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent identified Mexican adolescents who were instructed to fake bad. Validity scales data were used to differentiate between nonclinical adolescents instructed to fake bad and both clinical and nonclinical adolescents who received standard instructions. Participants were 59 male and 87 female Mexican high school students and 59 male and 87 female Mexican adolescents from clinical settings. This is the first study on faking with adolescents in Mexico. The F, F1, and F2 Scales and the F-K index discriminated adequately between the three different groups. Results were similar to those previously reported for adults and adolescents in Mexico and the United States. High positive and negative predictive powers and overall hit rates were obtained in this study. Higher cut scores were needed to discriminate between the groups of girls than between the groups of boys.