Specifically, the validity scale scores, such as the F Scale score, the L (Lie) Scale score, and the K Scale score, are useful in providing information about the patient’s credibility. Thus, when a psych doctor has declined to provide the patient’s MMPI scores in their report, you should consider it a “red flag” as the doctor is quite possibly trying to hide something. At the very least, the doctor has prevented the reader of their report from verifying the basis for their summary conclusions. Of course, at that point you should do everything you can to get the test scores from the doctor. The MMPI-2 is a version of the MMPI, a test that is the gold standard of psychological tests for medical-legal examinations. The MMPI-2 is capable of generating objective test scores that can be presented to the court to provide information both about the patient's credibility and any possible psychopathology. Tip #1 - Look to see if the doctor provided the MMPI-2 validity scale scores Second, I gave the attorney four tips to use when examining the doctor’s report of the MMPI-2 test data. Those four tips are: 1) Look to see if the doctor provided the MMPI-2 validity scale scores, 2) Look to see if the F Scale T-Score the doctor reported is 65 or higher, 3) Look to see if the L (Lie) Scale T-Score the doctor reported is 65 or higher, 4) Determine if all the scores are possible for the patient based on their gender. All of the validity scales and clinical scales on the MMPI-2 are described with a T-Score. In this regard, T-Scores on the validity scales and the clinical scales on the MMPI-2 have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Further, T-Scores of 65 or greater are interpretable. Research on the meaning of the clinical scale scores dates back to the 1930’s. However, there is a growing body of published literature indicating that research done on the MMPI that shows a relationship between the individual’s clinical scale scores and their psychological status may not be applicable to the MMPI-2 (e.g., Greene, R.L., The MMPI-2/MMPI An Interpretive Manual, Second Edition, Boston, Allyn & Bacon, 2000). What should I be looking for in the doctor’s discussion of the MMPI-2 in a psych evaluation report? This is a question that I was recently asked by an attorney who had a psych report written by a psychiatrist in conjunction with an evaluation for a claim of a psychiatric injury. I absolutely love this type of question!įirst, I explained to the attorney that the MMPI-2 is the 1989 revision of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), a test that was originally developed in the 1930’s. A majority of the psychologists and psychiatrists who are working in the medical-legal area appear to be using the MMPI-2 in preference to the MMPI. However there is a growing body or research literature that indicates that the MMPI-2 may not be as valid an instrument as the original MMPI. The reason for this is quite simple. There are three validity scales and ten clinical scales on both the MMPI and MMPI-2. Once the validity scale scores demonstrate that a person has been shown to be responding to the MMPI-2 items in an honest and frank manner, statements are made about the patient’s psychological status by looking at the pattern of scoring on the highest two or three clinical scale scores.
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