MMPI-2-RF Characteristics of Custody Evaluation Litigants

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2–Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) is a 338-item objective self-report measure drawn from the 567 items of the MMPI-2. Although there is a substantial MMPI-2 literature regarding child custody litigants, there has been only one previously published study using MMPI-2-RF data in this population that focused on Validity scales L-r and K-r. The current study evaluated the MMPI-2-RF results of 344 child custody litigants and showed substantial consistency between T-score elevations typically found on MMPI-2 Validity scales L and K, and comparable elevations for MMPI-2-RF validity scales L-r and K-r. Mean T-scores well within normal limits characterized results for clinical scales on both instruments. The RC scale intercorrelation patterns, and alpha coefficient values found for MMPI-2-RF scales in a custody population, were also found to be very similar to those reported for other populations. Directions for future research are presented.

Keywords

MMPI-2-RF custody litigants validity scales

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ackerman

M. J.

Ackerman

M. C.

(1997). Child custody evaluation practices: A survey of experienced professionals (revisited). Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28, 137-145.

Archer

R. P.

Buffington-Vollum

J. K.

Stredny

R. V.

Handel

R. W.

(2006). A survey of psychological test use patterns among forensic psychologists. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87, 84-94.

Archer

R. P.

Sutker

P. B.

White

J. L.

(1978). Personality relationships among parents and adolescent offspring in inpatient treatment. Psychological Reports, 42, 207-214.

Bagby

R. M.

Nicholson

R. A.

Buis

Radovanovic

Fidler

B. J.

(1999). Defensive responding on the MMPI-2 in family custody and access evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 11, 24-28.

Bathurst

Gottfried

A. W.

Gottfried

A. E.

(1997). Normative data for the MMPI-2 in child custody litigation. Psychological Assessment, 9, 205-211.

Ben-Porath

Y. S.

Tellegen

(2008). Empirical correlates of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) scales in mental health, forensic and nonclinical settings: An introduction. Journal of Personality Assessment, 90, 119-121.

Bow

J. N.

Quinnell

F. A.

(2001). Psychologists’ current practices and procedures in child custody evaluations: Five years after American Psychological Association guidelines. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32, 261-268.

Butcher

J. N.

Graham

J. R.

Ben-Porath

Y. S.

Tellegen

Dahlstrom

W. G.

Kaemmer

(2001). MMPI-2 (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2): Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation (Rev. ed.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Graham

J. R.

(2006). MMPI-2 assessing personality and psychopathology (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

10.

Hafner

A. J.

Butcher

J. N.

Hall

M. D.

Quast

(1969). Parent personality and childhood disorders: A review of MMPI findings. In Butcher

J. N.

(Ed.), MMPI: Research developments and applications (pp. 181-189). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

11.

Harkness

A. R.

McNulty

J. L.

(1994). The Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5): Issues from the pages of a diagnostic manual instead of a dictionary. In Strack

Lorr

(Eds.), Differentiating normal and abnormal personality (pp. 291-315). New York, NY: Springer.

12.

Harkness

A. R.

McNulty

J. L.

(2007, August). Restructured versions of the MMPI-2 Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) scales. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

13.

Mrazek

D. A.

Klinnert

M. D.

Mrazek

Macey

(1991). Early asthma onset: Consideration of parenting issues. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 277-282.

14.

Otto

R. K.

Collins

R. P.

(1995). Use of the MMPI-2/MMPI-A in child custody evaluations. In Ben-Porath

Y. S.

Graham

Hall

Hirschman

Zaragosa

(Eds.), Forensic applications of the MMPI-2 (pp. 222-252). New York, NY: Wiley.

15.

Sellbom

Bagby

R. M.

(2008). Validity of the MMPI-2-RF (Restructured Form) L-r and K-r scales in detecting underreporting in clinical and nonclinical samples. Psychological Assessment, 20, 370-376.

16.

Strong

D. R.

Greene

R. L.

Hoppe

Johnston

Olesen

(1999). Taxometric analysis of impression management and self-deception on the MMPI-2 in child-custody litigants. Journal of Personality Assessment, 73, 1018.

17.

Tellegen

Ben-Porath

Y. S.

(2008). MMPI-2-RF (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form) technical manual. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

18.

Tellegen

Ben-Porath

Y. S.

McNulty

J. L.

Arbisi

P. A.

Graham

J. L.

Kaemmer

(2003). The MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) scales: Development, validation and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

19.

Van Der Heijden

P. T.

Egger

J. I. M.

Derksen

J. J. L.

(2010). Comparability of scores on the MMPI-2-RF scales generated with the MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF booklets. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 254-259.