Response character styles in adolescents: a replication of convergent validity between the MMPI-A and the Rorschach

This study explored the extent to which similar or discordant response character styles (RCS) affected convergence between MMPI-A and Rorschach findings in a sample of 673 adolescents from a psychiatric inpatient setting. Meyer's (Meyer, 1997; Meyer, Riethmiller, Brooks, Benoit, & Handler, 2000) findings for adult samples were generally replicated in that adolescents showing similar RCS across both measures showed moderate to strong relationships between Rorschach and MMPI-A indicants of affective distress, psychosis, and interpersonal wariness, whereas those showing discordant RCS demonstrated negligible or negative correlations between these indicants. This pattern was evident for conceptually similar, but not conceptually unrelated variable pairs. Similarity and discordance of RCS was also found to have an impact on relationships with external criterion variables, including therapist ratings and discharge diagnoses. Moderated regression analysis supports the hypothesis that RCS moderates the strength of the relationship between Rorschach and MMPI-A. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.