Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Profiles of Adult Female Abuse Survivors

Abstract

Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) profiles of 91 adult female, Caucasian subjects were examined to determine if there were significant differences between those subjects who reported a history of broadly-defined childhood/adolescent abuse and those subjects who did not report a history of abuse. PAI profiles of 44 self-reported survivors of abuse were compared with those of 47 subjects diagnosed with primary affective disorders, but without a reported history of abuse. Since there were significant age differences between the two groups, with the nonabused subjects being older, PAI scores were compared using age of subject as covariate in an Analysis of Covariance design. Significant differences between the groups were obtained on several PAI scales and subscales. In addition, the profiles of abuse survivors closely resembled Morey's PAI Cluster 2, which is associated with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The PAI scale scores of the abuse survivors were believed to reflect the “acting-out” and “acting-in” tendencies reported in prior PTSD literature. The implications for evaluation of abuse survivors are discussed.