Mmpi Critical Literature Review

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Development of MMPI-2

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 or in short, MMPI-2, was the product of wide-ranging restandardization of the MMPI commencement in 1982 in six major areas. Archaic or obnoxious bits and pieces were omitted. MMPI soundness scales as well as clinical scales were preserved. The development of ancillary new scales that dealt with areas such as, violence, drug and substance abuse, nervousness, personality strength, connubial distress, gender functions, PTSD, as well as scales to evaluate atypical individuality. According to Wolf, G., Reinhard, M., Cozolino, L., Caldwell, A. & Asamen, J. In their article published in 2009 and titled Neuropsychiatric symptoms of complex posttraumatic stress disorder: A preliminary Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scale to identify adult survivors of childhood abuse, and carried in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 1 (1), 49-64, the initial validity as well as clinical scales of MMPI are still the same in MMPI-2 (Brown, et al, 2006). However, additional features which include new validity scales such as ;TRIN, VRIN as well as FB . The significance of these new test is allied to the fact that it provides uniformity which was absent in MMPI. This problem was solved in the course of restardizing MMPI to MMPI-2 and in the process eight clinical scales were included and this facilitated a developing a scale that is uniform. As argued by Barthlow, D. L., Graham, J. R., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Tellegen, A., & McNulty, J. L. (2002) in their article , The appropriateness of the MMPI-2 K Correction, which appeared in , Assessment, Vol 9, No. 3. 219-229, they note that MMPI-2 comprise seven major validity scales as well as ten key clinical scales that are almost the same when compared to the former MMPI (Butcher, 2003). The scope and dimension of MMPI tad to be one of the commonly used personality measures. Initially the test was formulated to aid in the diagnosis process of psychiatric disorders. However, with time the process acquired a new dimension and it had considerable implication with regard to personality measurement which were said to be complex beyond clinical syndromes. Thus the use of the MMPI was expanded to include expansive objectives and environments. Some of these use concerns integrating MMPI as a segment of marital therapy. The general setting of MMPI can generate information relating to individual or personality attributes which may manipulate marital distress this is according to Lees-Haley, P. R., English, L.T., & Glenn, W.J. (1991) in their article titled A fake bad scale on the MMPI-2 for personal injury claimants. In regard to this observation, determining individual personality factors in a relationship along with affiliation factors is full with challenges. There are diverse tools which are valid and reliable personality instruments which are employed in marital therapy. These inventories are employed to churn theories pertaining to individual personality aspects as well as the common nature of the given marital integration. Whiles the MMPI has shown to be a dependable personality inventory, there are critical issues that ought to be explained before employing this tool. Construal of the MMPI in relation to marital issues could be different. Such differences could be as a consequence of dissimilar attributes such as location, ethnicity or personal stress. The expansive exploitation of MMPI generates a greater degree of awareness as well as the need for its immediate review. In essence, the process had a number of diverse issues in regard to test items. Similarly critical issues were being expressed in regard to its applicability in addition to the norms employed to interpret the results of the MMPI. The process had a tendency to exclude a number of ethnic groups and also it failed to reflect the modern population. These as well as other issues necessitated the creation or the standardization project initiated in 1982. The revised model of the MMPI was named MMPI-2 and was inaugurated in 1989. In principal, MMPI-2 is more vibrant and reliable than MMPI. The fresh content scales embraced emerged to be extremely useful. Despite these changes, many expect that the medical fraternity would cordially receive MMPI-2 (Lees-Haley, et al, 1991). Nonetheless, MMPI-2 faced caution reception by diverse players in another field. There is improbability in relation to being in a position to uphold the established interpretive regulations along with lore compiled from numerous years of exploration with the MMPI as well as the ties with the rules with MMPI-2. And this indicates that unless continuity is established with other forms of populations, the previous studies would have inadequate significance in future studies as well as interpretation with MMPI-2.

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Objective of the study

The principal objective of the research is to review why the MMPI original was changed to the MMPI-2 .to achieve this objective it became imperative to employ the scope of marital counselees as a one way for the broad scope of furthering the understanding by exploiting the measures of MMPI-2. The significance of such a measure would help in focusing on personality variables attributed to marital distress. The objectives of employing these profiles are to examine the personality attributes of individuals experiencing marital distress. It ought to be noted initially this was done executed using MMPI. A number of surveys have shown that MMPI is in some quarters heavily used for both clinical and training purposes. Though psychologists do tend to value the elements of training in as well as the exploitation of MMPI, in essence, it is emerging there exists a disproportionate degree of ambivalence in regard to the usage of MMPI as a constituent of marital therapy. One of the foremost attribute of employing MMPI in relation to marital therapy is anchored on the scope of counseling theories allied to the therapist. Hence, numerous psychologists have observed the necessity for a streamlined procedure rather than a personal perspective in handling couples (Leckart, 1994).

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Article Summaries

Archer, R. P., Handel, R. W., Greene, R. L., Baer, R. A., & Elkins, D. E. (2001). An evaluation of the usefulness of the MMPI-2 F(p) scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 76, 282-295. According to the authors of this article, the reputation of MMPI as a critical psychological appraisal