MMPI-A Structural Summary Characteristics of Male Juvenile Delinquents

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personal Inventory-Adolescent Structural Summary factor scores for 655 male juvenile delinquents were determined. These Structural Summary scores were compared to the Structural Summary scores in the normative sample of boys. Elevations on Factor 2 (Immaturity) were most characteristic, with half of delinquents' scores being elevated by at least one standard deviation. Discriminant analyses suggested that linear combinations of the Structural Summary scores are as capable of distinguishing between the normative and delinquent samples as were linear combinations of the clinical scales. Furthermore, use of Structural Summary scores provided incremental validity in distinguishing between the two samples, increasing positive predictive power by 20% to 40% as compared to use of only the clinical, content, and supplementary scales.

A Factor Structure for the MMPI-A

“…Furthermore, Immaturity was also a crucial component of the three most frequently occurring three-dimension patterns in this juvenile delinquent sample, typically in combination with the General Maladjustment dimension, the Familial Alienation dimension, or the Psychoticism dimension. These overall findings speak to the relative importance of the Immaturity dimension in this male juvenile delinquent sample, a finding that is also underscored in the examination of MMPI-A SS scores reported by Morton and Farris (2002).…”

“…Furthermore, the finding by Morton et al (in press) that low scores on the Masculinity-Femininity Scale were the most important markers of delinquency among male adolescents raises the possibility that low scores on at least some MMPI-A scales may provide crucial data for this population. This issue of the usefulness of the MMPI-A in distinguishing between samples of adolescents in normal settings versus samples in clinical or delinquent settings serves as the major focus of the work by Morton and Farris (2002). Their findings demonstrate the incremental usefulness of the SS in distinguishing between normal and delinquent samples when the SS dimensions are combined with the standard clinical and content scales.…”

“…Thus, the final sample contained 1,587 males. The 665 male juvenile delinquents reported in the Morton and Farris (2002) investigation represent a subsample of the current sample. Ethnic membership in the current group was as follows: Black, 809 (51.0%); White, 757 (47.7%); Hispanic, 14 (0.9%); Native American, 1 (0.1%); Asian, 5 (0.3%); and other, 1 (0.1%).…”

“…The MMPI-A patterns of violent juvenile offenders (Hicks, Rogers, & Cashel, 2000;Katz & Marquette, 1997) have been examined, and the results of efforts to underreport symptomatology among incarcerated delinquents were reported by Stein and Graham (1999). Losada-Paisey (1998) investigated MMPI-A profiles among male delinquents with and without histories of sex offenses, and Toyer and Weed (1998); Gumbiner, Arriaga, and Stevens (1999); Morton and Farris (2002); and Peña, Megargee, and Brody (1996) more generally evaluated the MMPI-A patterns found among delinquent offenders. Similarly, Morton, Farris, and Brenowitz (in press) have provided evidence of the ability of the MMPI-A to discriminate between 655 male delinquents and the 805 male adolescents in the MMPI-A normative group.…”