The Failure to Construct an MMPI-2-Based Self-Mutilative Behavior Scale

Abstract

Thirty identified self-mutilating patients in a large state mental hospital were compared with 30 patients at the same facility who were matched on the basis of gender, race, and diagnosis, but were not identified as self-mutilators. A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance and a two group chi-square analysis were employed to determine if a selected set of variables from the MMPI-2 (Anger, Anxiety, and Depression content scales, and Psychasthenia, Social Introversion, Psychopathic Deviance, Schizophrenia, and Hypomania) could effectively discriminate between the two groups. Neither procedure produced results of statistical significance. The results of the study are discussed in terms of individual differences and the difficulty of establishing a profile with the MMPI-2 predictive of self-mutilative behavior.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Balon, R. (1987). Suicide: Can we predict it? Comprehensive Psychiatry, 28, 236-241.

Ben-Porath, Y.S. (1989). Assessing coping styles with the MMPI-2. In J. N. Butcher & J. R. Graham (Eds.), Topics in MMPI-2 Interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.

Eyman, J.R. , & Eyman, S.K. (1991). Personality assessment in suicide prediction. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 21(1), 37-55.

Graham, J.R. (1990). MMPI-2: Assessing personality and psychopathology . New York: Oxford University Press .

Greene, R.L. (1991). The MMPI-2/MMPI: An interpretive manual. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Meyer, R.G. (1989). The clinician's handbook: The psychopathology of adulthood and adolescence (2nd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Panton, J.H. (1962). The identification of perdispositional factors in self-mutilation within a state prison population. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 18, 63-67.

Williams, C.L. (1989). Introducing the new MMPI-2 content scales. In J. N. Butcher & J. R. Graham (Eds.), Topics in MMPI-2 interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.