Computerized adaptive testing in personality assessment can improve efficiency by significantly reducing the number of items administered to answer an assessment question. Two approaches have been explored for adaptive testing in computerized personality assessment: item response theory and the countdown method. In this article, the authors review the literature on each and report the results of an investigation designed to explore the utility, in terms of item and time savings, and validity, in terms of correlations with external criterion measures, of an expanded countdown method-based research version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the MMPI-2 Computerized Adaptive Version (MMPI-2-CA). Participants were 433 undergraduate college students (170 men and 263 women). Results indicated considerable item savings and corresponding time savings for the adaptive testing modalities compared with a conventional computerized MMPI-2 administration. Furthermore, computerized adaptive administration yielded comparable results to computerized conventional administration of the MMPI-2 in terms of both test scores and their validity. Future directions for computerized adaptive personality testing are discussed.

The current study explored associations between two potentially invalidating self-report styles detected by the Validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), over-reporting and under-reporting, and scores on the MMPI-2-RF substantive, as well as eight collateral self-report measures administered either at the same time or within 1 to 10 days of MMPI-2-RF administration. Analyses were conducted with data provided by college students, male prisoners, and male psychiatric outpatients from a Veterans Administration facility. Results indicated that if either an over- or under-reporting response style was suggested by the MMPI-2-RF Validity scales, scores on the majority of the MMPI-2-RF substantive scales, as well as a number of collateral measures, were significantly affected in all three groups in the expected directions. Test takers who were identified as potentially engaging in an over- or under-reporting response style by the MMPI-2-RF Validity scales appeared to approach extra-test measures similarly regardless of when these measures were administered in relation to the MMPI-2-RF. Limitations and suggestions for future study are discussed.

Poor and insufficient sleep causes physical, cognitive, emotional, and social impairments. Unfortunately, little is known about the social‐cognitive predictors of daily sleep habits. The current study examined if sleep hygiene could be predicted using the Reasoned Action Model (Fishbein & Ajzen, ). Across four studies, the model performed well for the prediction of intentions (R2s = .63–.75), and also significantly predicted both self‐reported (R2 = .15) and actigraphy‐recorded sleep duration (R2 = .11). The results from these studies support the further use of the model toward the goal of designing effective sleep hygiene interventions.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) restructured clinical (RC) scales were designed to assess the underlying distinctive core components of the MMPI-2 clinical scales in order to enhance discriminant and convergent validity. Analyses utilizing inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment samples (Tellegen et al., 2003) have demonstrated improvements in the psychometric functioning of the RC scales in comparison with the original clinical scales. The current study extends these analyses by comparing the RC and original clinical scales in a sample of 1,284 men assessed at intake to a substance abuse treatment program in a VA setting. Results indicate that the RC scales demonstrate a general improvement in psychometric properties, with some increases in convergent and discriminant validity compared to their clinical scale counterparts. These results replicate Tellegen et al.'s (2003) findings in a different type of treatment setting and with different criteria, and complement their report by examining the validity of scales RC3 and RC9, for which Tellegen et al. (2003) did not have appropriate criteria. Implications for deliverers of psychological services in public sector settings are discussed.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) and Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI) are frequently used objective personality self-report measures. Given their widespread use, the purpose of the current study was to examine and compare the literature base for the two instruments. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted between the years 1992 and 2007 using the PsycINFO Database. Results indicate the publication of 277 articles, books, book chapters, monographs, and dissertation abstracts on the MMPI-A. This was compared with the results of a comparable search for the MACI, which yielded 84 citations. The literature was further explored by determining the content of the topic areas addressed for both instruments. A particular focus was placed on the utility of the instruments with juvenile justice populations; scale means, standard deviations, and effect sizes calculated from this literature were examined. Results indicate that the use of the MMPI-A is supported by a substantial literature and a growing research base is also available for the MACI. Both instruments appear to provide useful results in juvenile justice settings.