TY - JOUR
T1 - Defensive responding on the MMPI-2 in pre-surgical candidates
AU - Ruchinskas, Robert A.
AU - Combs, Christopher J.
AU - Riley, Kevin C.
AU - Broshek, Donna K.
PY - 2006/12
Y1 - 2006/12
N2 - The MMPI-2 is frequently used for a variety of pre-surgical evaluations that can have life changing consequences for the patient being examined. While it intuitively makes sense that a proportion of examinees will attempt to downplay distress in order to avoid any perceived questions about their surgical candidacy, this hypothesis has received scant research attention. This study cluster analyzed the MMPI-2 L, F, & K validity scales for 890 pre-surgical candidates. Depending on the standard utilized, between one-third and two-thirds of our sample displayed some degree of defensive responding. These results suggest that traditional markers of test validity may need to be adjusted in populations with high base rates for defensiveness. The difficulty in ascribing personality characteristics based on validity scale scores and directions for further research are also discussed.
AB - The MMPI-2 is frequently used for a variety of pre-surgical evaluations that can have life changing consequences for the patient being examined. While it intuitively makes sense that a proportion of examinees will attempt to downplay distress in order to avoid any perceived questions about their surgical candidacy, this hypothesis has received scant research attention. This study cluster analyzed the MMPI-2 L, F, & K validity scales for 890 pre-surgical candidates. Depending on the standard utilized, between one-third and two-thirds of our sample displayed some degree of defensive responding. These results suggest that traditional markers of test validity may need to be adjusted in populations with high base rates for defensiveness. The difficulty in ascribing personality characteristics based on validity scale scores and directions for further research are also discussed.
KW - Defensiveness
KW - MMPI-2
KW - Surgical evaluations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33750148937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33750148937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10880-006-9044-5
DO - 10.1007/s10880-006-9044-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33750148937
SN - 1068-9583
VL - 13
SP - 435
EP - 439
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
IS - 4
ER -