Dementia does not Preclude Very Reliable Responding on the MMPI-2 RF: A Case Report

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) family of personality tests has long been used by psychologists, in part because it provides extensive information on the validity of patient responses. Although much of the research on MMPI validity indicators has focused on over-reporting or under-reporting symptoms, the consistency (i.e., reliability, a requirement for validity) of responding is also critical to examine. Clinicians tend to avoid using the MMPI-2 or the MMPI-2-RF (Restructured Form) in patients with dementia based on the belief that severe cognitive impairment would make reliable responding impossible given the large number of items (567 and 338, respectively). In contrast with this belief we present the case of a 65-year-old woman with severe memory impairments and executive dysfunction due to a non-specific dementia syndrome who was able to provide remarkably consistent responding on the MMPI-2-RF. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Self-awareness of cognitive dysfunction: Self-reported complaints and cognitive performance in patients with alcohol-induced mild or major neurocognitive disorder

“…This means that in addition to KS patients, also NKS patients are at risk that their apparently "without cognitive complaints" appearance on self-report questionnaires can be easily overlooked or misinterpreted as a lack of motivation by the therapist (Rinn et al, 2002) leading towards under diagnosis or inadequate treatment (Horton et al, 2015;Thomson et al, 2012). Studies in different patient groups show that self-report is moderately correlated with performance tasks (Carone and Ben-Porath, 2014;Gervais et al, 2009), indicating that it is difficult to measure self-awareness impairment with self-report questionnaires only. Therefore, in addition to a heteroanamnesis, information on cognitive functioning is essential in the treatment of patient with chronic alcohol use.…”