Читать книгу Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology - Robert Weis - Страница 163

Personality refers to a person’s relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Because children are in a stage of life characterized by development in all three domains, psychologists are reluctant to make definitive statements regarding children’s personality. Instead, clinicians often seek to understand children’s functioning in terms of thoughts, feelings, and actions in the context of their physical maturation, developmental tasks, and ever-changing environment (Butcher, 2019).

The most frequently used self-report measure of personality in older adolescents and adults is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Despite its name, the MMPI is better viewed as a test of psychopathology and social–emotional functioning than personality per se. The original MMPI consists of true/false items that assess several domains of functioning. The most recent version of the MMPI, developed specifically for adolescents, is the MMPI-Adolescent-Restructured Form (MMPI-A-RF; Archer, 2016). This self-report test assesses three higher-order domains of adolescents’ functioning: (1) emotional/internalizing dysfunction, (2) behavioral/externalizing dysfunction, and (3) thought dysfunction. Furthermore, it generates a personality profile on nine restructured clinical (RC) scales based on adolescents’ self-reports:

Demoralization (RCd): dissatisfaction, hopelessness, self-doubt

Somatic Complaints (RC1): physical complaints such as headaches, stomachaches, and nausea

Low Positive Emotions (RC2): depression, lack of pleasure in life

Cynicism (RC3): beliefs in the general badness or selfishness of others

Antisocial Behavior (RC4): conduct and substance use problems

Ideas of Persecution (RC6): suspiciousness or mistrust of others

Dysfunctional Negative Emotions (RC7): anxiety, irritability, feelings of vulnerability

Aberrant Experiences (RC8): unusual perceptions or bizarre thoughts

Hypomanic Activation (RC9): impulsiveness, grandiosity, and high energy

The MMPI-A-RF yields other scores designed to assess adolescents’ test-taking attitude and specific psychological problems. For example, the test contains several validity scales that detect inconsistent responding or a tendency to over- or under-report symptoms. The test also contains specific problem scales that assess concerns such as substance use, negative attitudes toward school, and conflict in family relationships.

Description

Figure 4.3 ■ Sara’s MMPI-A-RF Profile

Note: Compared to other adolescents, Sara reports significant problems on the Emotional/Internalizing Dysfunction (EID) scale. Her primary concerns are physical health problems (RC1) and anxiety (RC7).

The MMPI-A-RF yields scores (called T scores) with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. Scores of 60 or greater indicate clinically significant problems in social–emotional functioning compared to other adolescents. Clinicians usually plot the adolescent’s T scores on a profile to graphically represent the most salient aspects of the adolescent’s functioning (Handel, 2016).

Sara’s MMPI-A-RF profile showed elevations on the broad emotional/internalizing dysfunction domain compared to other adolescent girls her age (Figure 4.3). Her scores were particularly high on scales assessing physical health problems (RC1) and negative emotions like anxiety and worry (RC7). In contrast, her scores on the demoralization scale (RCd) and the low positive emotions scale (RC2) were not elevated, indicating that Sara may manifest psychological distress through physical complaints and insomnia rather than through feelings of depression and hopelessness.