MMPI-A: test of behavioral correlates associated with elevated scales in a sample of female juvenile delinquents

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has a long history of identifying adolescents who are at risk of displaying delinquent behaviors. However, MMPI research regarding behaviors observed from adolescents while incarcerated is non-existent. This dissertation examines the usefulness of the adolescent version of the MMPI (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) in predicting specific unit infractions for female juvenile delinquents incarcerated in a state facility in Texas. Unit infractions were placed into groups based on behavioral relatedness. MMPI-A scales were selected for analyses based on behavioral descriptors related to unit infractions. Logistic regression was performed to test whether elevated MMPI-A scales, dichotomized at 55T, 60T, 65T and 70T could predict behaviorally related groupings. Analyses suggest that the MMPI-A is not very useful in statistically predicting unit infractions.