Spanish Versions of the MMPI-2 and PAI: An Investigation of Concurrent Validity With Hispanic Patients

Abstract

Delivery of mental health services to Hispanic populations requires that assessment methods address the linguistic needs of their clientele. Toward this end, Spanish translations of two recent multiscale inventories (i.e., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, MMPI, and Personality Assessment Inventory, PAI) were published in order to meet these needs. Unfortunately, the linguistic equivalence and criterion-based validation of these Spanish versions were not addressed prior to publication. We sought to take the first step in remedying this oversight by administering the MMPI-2 and PAI to 105 Hispanic patients for whom Spanish is the sole or preferred language. We employed a revised Spanish version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) as a criterion measure. By focusing on four common disorders (i.e., major depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and alcohol dependence), we examined the usefulness of codetypes and clinical elevations for establishing these disorders. Overall, we found moderate hit rates for the MMPI-2 (N = .60, range from .46-.69) and moderate to high hit rates for the PAI (M = .72, range from .57-.87). Correlations of selected scales with DIS symptoms varied widely and were generally in the low to moderate range. Finally, exploratory data suggested few within-minority differences on selected MMPI-2 and PAI scales when DIS symptoms were employed as covariates.