Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent

MMPI-A

James N. Butcher, PhD, Carolyn Williams, PhD, John R. Graham, PhD, Robert P. Archer, PhD, Auke Tellegen, PhD, Yossef S. Ben-Porath, PhD, Beverly Kaemmer, Coordinator for the Press

An empirically based measure of adolescent psychopathology, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory®-Adolescent (MMPI®-A) aids in problem identification, diagnosis, and treatment planning for youth. Guidance on using this test in your telepractice.

Manual cover of the MMPI assessment: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent

Publication date: 1992 (Manual), 2006 (Manual Supplement)

Age range: 14-18 years

Reading level: 4.9 grade (Lexile average), 4.4 grade (Flesch-Kincaid)

Qualification level: C Additional information

Completion time: Approximately 60 minutes

Administration: Online administration, Computer, CD, paper and pencil

Scoring options: Q-global® Scoring & Reporting, Hand Scoring, Q™ Local Software, or Mail-in Scoring Service

Report options: MMPI-A Adolescent System Interpretive Reports, Extended Score Report

Norms: The MMPI-A normative sample consists of 1,620 adolescents (805 boys; 815 girls) between 14 and 18 years of age from several regions of the U.S., a balanced sample for region, rural-urban residence, and ethnicity.

Other languages: English, Spanish

Telepractice: Guidance on using this test in your telepractice.

The MMPI-A-RF has now been released. View the page.

An empirically based measure of adolescent psychopathology, the MMPI-A test contains adolescent-specific scales, and other unique features designed to make the instrument especially appropriate for today’s youth. Offering reports tailored to particular settings, the MMPI-A test helps provide relevant information to aid in problem identification, diagnosis, and treatment planning for youth (ages 14–18).

How to Use This Test

School, clinical, and counseling psychologists can use this self-report inventory to help:

Support diagnosis and treatment planning in a variety of settings.
Identify the root causes of potential problems early on.
Provide easy-to-understand information to share with parents, teachers, and others in the adolescent’s support network.
Guide professionals in making appropriate referrals.

Key Features

Item content and language are relevant for adolescents.
At the psychologist’s discretion, the clinical scales and three of the validity scales can be scored from the first 350 items, a significant savings in administration time.
Norms are adolescent-specific.
Scales help address problems clinicians are likely to see with adolescents, including family issues, eating disorders, and chemical dependency.

Scales

View list of scales

Psychometric Information

The normative sample of the MMPI-A test consists of 805 adolescent males and 815 adolescent females from eight communities in the U.S. The sites were chosen to maximize the probability of obtaining a balanced sample of subjects according to geographic region, rural/urban residence, and ethnic background.

Interpretive Report

This comprehensive report helps provide an objective psychological picture of the adolescent through scale scores, special indices, and narrative statements.

Based on extensive experience in MMPI and MMPI-2 research and clinical practice, authors James N. Butcher, PhD, and Carolyn L. Williams, PhD, provide information on the following:

Symptomatic Behavior
Interpersonal Relationships
Behavioral Stability
Diagnostic and Treatment Considerations
A list of omitted items and suggested items for follow-up

The report presents the following scales:

Validity and Clinical Scales profiled and interpreted
Content Scales profiled and interpreted
Supplementary Scales profiled with alcohol/drug scales interpreted
PSY-5 Scales profiled and interpreted
Clinical Subscales (Harris-Lingoes and Social Introversion Subscales) (reported only)
Content Component Scales (reported only)

Sample Reports

Specialized reports are available for the following settings:

Extended Score Report

This report provides raw and T scores for all standard MMPI-A scales as well as the PSY-5 Scales, Content Component Subscales, and critical items.

Sample Report

Extended Score Report

Basic Service Report

The Basic Service Report has been discontinued. See the MMPI-A Extended Score Report or the MMPI-A-RF Score Report for alternatives most similar to the Basic Service Report.

Scoring and Reporting Options

Q-global® Web-based Administration, Scoring, and Reporting – Enables you to quickly assess and efficiently organize examinee information, generate scores, and produce accurate comprehensive reports all via the Web.

Q Local™ Scoring and Reporting Desktop Software - Enables you to score assessments, report results, and store and export data on your computer.

Mail-in Scoring Service - Specially designed answer sheets are mailed to Pearson and are processed within 24–48 hours of receipt; results returned via regular mail.

Manual Scoring - Administer assessments on answer sheets and score them yourself with answer keys and profile/record forms.

Frequently asked questions follow. Click on a question to see the response.

I am getting scores but no profile on an MMPI-A report for a 13-year-old. Is it valid?

The MMPI-A instrument was developed for young people between the ages of 14 and 18 (normative group). It may be appropriate to assess 13-year-olds if they are mature enough to answer the items meaningfully and if they read at the requisite level. Because 13-year-olds were not included in the normative sample, the scores are shown but are not plotted in the Extended Score Report. However, the scores are plotted on The Minnesota Report.

What are the demographic default values for an MMPI-A administration?

The Adolescent System Interpretive Report defaults to the following demographic if it is omitted: Setting: Outpatient.

Test Date, Birth Date, ID Number, and Gender must be filled in. The software will not print any type of report without this information. Age is calculated from the Test Date and Birth Date.

Where can I find information on the critical items for the MMPI-A test?

Additional information on the development of the standard set of critical items for the MMPI-A test can be found in A Critical Item Set for the MMPI-A and Supplement to the MMPI-A Manual (University of Minnesota Press). This test monograph and manual supplement are available from Pearson (product numbers 29430 and 25036). Critical items are included in the Minnesota Report and the Extended Score Report.

Is there a section in the MMPI-A manual that compares the MMPI, MMPI-2, and MMPI-A items?

What is F1?

Why does the TRIN scale have a "T" or an "F" plotted above the mean (50T) on the profile?

What is the difference between the Depression scale in the Clinical Scales and the Depression scale in the Content Scales?

The Depression scale in the Clinical Scales is a heterogeneous measure of depression (it measures more than one facet of depression). This scale was developed on psychiatric patients with various forms of symptomatic depression. The Depression scale in the Clinical Scales measures discomfort and dissatisfaction with life, characterized by poor morale, lack of hope in the future, denial of happiness and self-worth, withdrawal, psychomotor retardation, and other facets of symptomatic depression.

The Depression scale in the Content Scales measures only one facet of depression, self-reported depressive thoughts.

What effect does age have on MMPI-A scores?

The MMPI-A instrument was developed for young people between the ages of 14 and 18 (normative group).

Clinicians administering the MMPI-A instrument to clients 12 or 13 years old should be aware that they are using the instrument with an age group that has a higher incidence of difficulty with the assessment and therefore they should be cautious in their interpretations. The MMPI-A instrument is probably developmentally inappropriate for children under 12.

Normative and clinical samples for both the MMPI-2 and the MMPI-A instruments include 18-year-olds, so the clinician should make a case-by-case judgment about which assessment to use with 18-year-old clients. A suggested guideline would be to use the MMPI-A instrument with 18-year-olds who are still in high school and the MMPI-2 instrument with 18-year-olds who are in college, working, or living an otherwise independent adult lifestyle.

How do I enter an Abbreviated MMPI-A test in Q Local software?

To facilitate an Abbreviated MMPI-A test administration, all of the items needed to score the 10 Clinical Scales and 3 Validity Scales L, F₁, and K appear within the first 350 items. To enter an Abbreviated MMPI-A test in Manual Entry, simply enter a “2” for “Abbreviated” under “Type” in the demographics. Enter the client’s responses to the first 350 items of the test only, then save and print. To administer an Abbreviated MMPI-A test in On-Screen Entry, choose “Abbreviated” in the administrator demographics when this option appears. The On-Screen administration will end after the first 350 items are administered.

What scales can be scored if only the first 350 items are administered?

If I have a client answer the first 350 items and choose to print an Extended Score Report, will I have scorable validity indicators (L, F1, K), clinical scales, and clinical subscales (Harris-Lingoes and Si subscales)?

Where can I find information on the PSY-5 Scales and Content Component Scales for the MMPI-A test?

PSY-5 (Personality Psychopathology-Five) Scales and Content Component Scales were added to the MMPI-A Extended Score Report and hand-scoring materials in 2006 and to The Minnesota Report in 2007. A manual supplement is available that contains information on these newly released scales. This manual supplement is available from Pearson (product number 25036).

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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent

The MMPI-A-RF has now been released. View the page.

How to Use This Test

Key Features

Scales

Psychometric Information

Getting Started with the Q-global Training Series

Interpretive Report

Extended Score Report

Basic Service Report

Scoring and Reporting Options

ASSESSMENTS

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