Date of Award

11-2018

Document Type

Doctoral Research Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Radhika Krishnamurthy

Second Advisor

Maria Lavooy

Third Advisor

Lisa Perdigao

Fourth Advisor

Lisa Steelman

Abstract

Many psychological disorders have their beginnings or foundations during the critical developmental period of adolescence. Substance use is particularly problematic at this time because of its risk for continuation into adulthood and because of the many problems associated with it, such as delinquency, family conflict, and poor emotional adjustment. Accurate assessment of emotional and behavioral disturbances in adolescents is important for directing treatment and intervention. This study aimed to contribute reference data for this specific population to the growing body of research with the newly published Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent-Restructured Form (MMPI-A­RF). The central purposes of this study were to (a) examine MMPI-A-RF profile patterns for a primary sample of substance-abusing adolescents who were court mandated into a Juvenile Diversion Alternative Program (JDAP; N = 22), and (b) generate extra-test correlates of MMPI-A-RF scores for this sample using the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition's (BASC-3) Self-Report of Personality- Adolescent (SRP-A) and Parent Rating Scale - Adolescent (PRS-A). Mean MMPI-A-RF scores were predominantly average but were elevated at 2:. 60 for six scales reflecting acting-out behaviors and in the T = 55-59 range for 18 additional scales. Correlations between MMPI-A-RF scales and the SRP-A and PRS-A scales produced an abundance of significant correlates with large effect sizes. These correlates demonstrated appropriate construct convergence between the tests and enabled expansion and enrichment of MMPI-A-RF scale score interpretations. An additional purpose of this study was to compare MMPI-A-RF externalizing and internalizing scale scores for the primary JDAP sample with those of a comparison sample of outpatient adolescents diagnosed with internalizing disorders as a demonstration of the MMPI-A-RF's construct validity. The JDAP sample of externalizing adolescents was found to have significantly higher scores on six of the 13 selected externalizing scales, while the comparison sample of internalizing adolescents were not found to have significantly higher scores on the internalizing scales. The weight of these findings' implications is discussed, as are the study's limitations, contributions, and suggested future research directions.

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