Prison Anger Reduction Programs Evaluation Development Project

This report describes efforts to develop Alaska-specific norms for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), using the Megargee offender classification system, for use in program evaluations in Alaska correctional facilities, specifically for evaluation of three pilot anger reduction programs initiated at Alaska Department of Corrections institutions in late 1984/early 1985: (1) Women in Crisis (at Fairbanks Correctional Center); (2) M. E. N., Inc. (at Lemon Creek Correctional Center, Juneau); (3) Bering Sea Women's Group (at Nome Correctional Center). The report provides assessments of the three programs and the correctional centers where they were held and makes recommendations for completing the development of Alaska-specific MMPI-based norms and for the administration of the MMPI as pre- and post-test for measuring psychological changes — particularly in hostility/frustration levels — in participants in anger reduction programs.Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual AssaultIntroduction / Section I. History of the Project / Section II. Psychological Testing / Section III. Site Assessment — Facilities / Section IV. Site Assessment — Programs / Section V. Recommendations / APPENDICES / A. Domestic Violence Evaluation Project: Assessment of Programs for Anger Reduction in Incarcerated Alaskan Prisoners [Project proposal] / B. Letter from Nancy E. Schafer to Barbara Miklos, June 7, 1985 / C. Site Visits / D. Criminal Justice Assessment Cervices, Inc.: Experimental MMPI Scales Availabl

Murder and the MMPI-2: The Necessity of Knowledgeable Legal Professionals

Part I of this Comment discusses the basic structure and purpose of the MMPI-2, the development and evolution of the MMPI into the MMPI-2, and reliability and validity issues. Part II provides a basic understanding of the correct administration, scoring, and interpretation of the MMPI-2 and describes standards for expert testimony. Part III presents a historical overview of the use of the MMPI-2 in court. The different types of cases in which the MMPI-2 is used are discussed along with the many applications of its use. Part IV describes the legal standards of admissibility of scientific evidence in court and how the MMPI-2 fares under each standard. Part V analyzes the use of the MMPI-2 in murder trials, including the prevalence and application of the MMPI-2 in murder cases. Part VI provides a thorough discussion of some of the misapplications of the MMPI-2 in murder cases. Part VII recommends possible solutions to the issues raised by the use of the MMPI-2 in murder trials. Part VIII of this Comment concludes that the widespread use of the MMPI-2 in the legal arena necessitates that legal professionals be knowledgeable about the basic structure and process of the MMPI-2. Despite the sometimes negative reviews of the MMPI-2, it remains a valuable assessment tool for use in murder trials, when used correctly by both psychologists and legal professionals

Gaming addiction, definition, and measurement: a large-scale empirical study

Aims: Although the general public appears to have embraced the term 'video game addiction', the scientific debate as to whether 'gaming addiction' can actually be considered an addiction similar to substance addictions of DSM-IV is still unsettled. To date, research on gaming addiction has focused on problematic behavior from the gaming activity itself and there has been little empirical research related to pathological personality patterns that usually are associated with substance addictions. Therefore, the current study examined how excessive gaming and ‘problematic gaming behavior’ are related to personality patterns associated with addiction by means of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 MMPI-2). Design, setting, and participants: A large-scale survey study among 1,004 adolescent boys (age-range 11-18 years; M =14.18, SD=1.36; response rate 96.17%). Measurements: Problematic gaming behavior, physical game-related symptoms, gaming behavior and three MMPI-2 subscales measuring personality patterns usually associated with substance addiction (MAC-R, APS, AAS) were assessed. Findings: Results showed that problematic gaming and physical game-related symptoms were positively related to all three substance abuse subscales of the MMPI-2. Conclusions: Problematic gaming should be clearly distinguished from excessive gaming. In short, excessive gaming merely indicates enthusiasm for some although it may be psychopathological for others

Narcissistic Traits of Police Officers in America

The narcissistic traits of police officers aged 17 to 78 in the United States affect American citizens in various degrees. Improvements made to pre-employment psychological evaluations, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the L (Lie) Scale, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), may detect and screen out police officer candidates with underlying Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It is important that candidates with NPD be screened out as, if they become officers, they may commit acts of police misconduct, which greatly affect the safety and trust of the American people

Complete next-to-leading order calculation for pion production in nucleon-nucleon collisions at threshold

Based on a counting scheme that explicitly takes into account the large momentum sqrt(M m_pi) characteristic for pion production in nucleon-nucleon collisions we calculate all diagrams for the reaction NN --> NN pi at threshold up to next-to-leading order. At this order there are no free parameters and the size of the next-to-leading order contributions is in line with the expectation from power counting. The sum of loop corrections at that order vanishes for the process pp --> pp pi^0 at threshold. The total contribution at next-to-leading order from loop diagrams that include the delta degree of freedom vanishes at threshold in both reaction channels pp --> pp pi^0, pn pi^+.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Could time detect a faking-good attitude? A study with the MMPI-2-RF

Background and Purpose: Research on the relationship between response latency (RL) and faking in self-administered testing scenarios have generated contradictory findings. We explored this relationship further, aiming to add further insight into the reliability of self-report measures. We compared RLs and T-scores on the MMPI-2-RF (validity and restructured clinical [RC] scales) in four experimental groups. Our hypotheses were that: the Fake-Good Speeded group would obtain a different completion time; show higher RLs than the Honesty Speeded Group in the validity scales; show higher T-Scores in the L-r and K-r scales and lower T-scores in the F-r and RC scales; and show higher levels of tension and fatigue. Finally, the impact of the speeded condition in malingering was assessed. Materials and Methods: The sample was comprised of 135 subjects (M = 26.64; SD = 1.88 years old), all of whom were graduates (having completed at least 17 years of instruction), male, and Caucasian. Subjects were randomly assigned to four groups: Honesty Speeded, Fake-Good Speeded, Honesty Un-Speeded, and Fake-Good Un-Speeded. A software version of the MMPI-2-RF and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were administered. To test the hypotheses, MANOVAs and binomial logistic regressions were run. Results: Significant differences were found between the four groups, and particularly between the Honest and Fake-Good groups in terms of test completion time and the L-r and K-r scales. The speeded condition increased T-scores in the L-r and K-r scales but decreased T-scores in some of the RC scales. The Fake groups also scored higher on the VAS Tension subscale. Completion times for the first and second parts of the MMPI-2-RF and T-scores for the K-r scale seemed to predict malingering. Conclusion: The speeded condition seemed to bring out the malingerers. Limitations include the sample size and gender bias

The influence of mother’s personality on the decision about the elective cesarean section: a pilot study with a sample of 16 new mothers

To investigate the psychological profile of a sample of new mothers, who requested an elective caesarean section (CS), compared with a group of women who had a CS in emergency. Women who chose CS without medical indications showed more somatic anxiety levels, expressed with a hypochondriac rumination and an obsessive way to control their body. This seems associated with more neuroticism and more symptoms of depression which may lead to a higher risk of develop postnatal depression

Use of Selected MMPI-A Factors in the Prediction of Clinical Outcomes in a Community-Based Treatment Program for Juvenile Sexual Offenders

This study was designed to evaluate the use of MMPI-A factors to make predictions about clinical outcomes within a community-based treatment program for juvenile sexual offenders. Specifically, selected MMPI-A factors were used to predict client acceptance into the program and client compliance with program expectations over a 12-month period. Results showed that program acceptance was best predicted by the MMPI-A factor, “Immaturity.” No MMPI-A factors were found to be statistically significant in the prediction of program compliance. A high degree of collinearity was found between MMPI-A factors, raising questions about their discriminative utility. Results are discussed with regard to the limited utility of the MMPI-A, and factor scores, in making predictions about specific clinical outcomes