MMPI-2 interpretation and closed-head trauma: cross-validation of a correction factor.

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Research indicates the MMPI-2 has items sensitive to closed-head trauma (CHT) and neurological conditions.
• A 14-item correction procedure was proposed by Gass (1991) based on a male veteran sample.
• The generalizability of these items to a broader CHT population requires assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the MMPI-2 scoring characteristics in an outpatient sample of mild, recent CHT patients.
• To assess the generalizability of Gass's (1991) neurologically sensitive MMPI-2 items.
• To identify MMPI-2 items that best differentiate CHT patients from a normative sample.

Main Methods:

• Investigated MMPI-2 scoring in 54 outpatient CHT patients (28 male, 26 female) with recent, mild head trauma.
• Contrasted MMPI-2 item endorsement frequencies with the MMPI-2 normative sample (N=2,600).
• Utilized chi-square analyses to identify differentiating MMPI-2 items.

Main Results:

• The MMPI-2 items distinguishing CHT patients from normals primarily involved neurologic symptom content.
• Ten of the 15 identified differentiating items were included in Gass's (1991) 14-item correction.
• Thirteen of the 14 correction items effectively discriminated the CHT cross-validation sample from normals.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide empirical support for using the MMPI-2 correction with patients experiencing mild and recent head trauma.
• The MMPI-2 correction demonstrates generalizability across different CHT patient samples.
• MMPI-2 items related to neurologic symptoms are crucial for identifying CHT.