Correlates of MMPI-A Substance Abuse Scales

Abstract

This study evaluated the correlates of 16 scales for the identification of substance abuse with the adolescent form of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-A). As predicted, the scales that were previously validated with adolescents in treatment for substance abuse (i.e., the Alcohol/Drug Problem Proneness scale, or PRO; the Alcohol/Drug Problem Acknowledgment scale, or ACK; the MacAndrew scale, or MAC-R; the Substance Abuse Proclivity scale, or SAP; and the Psychopathy scale, or PSP) were reliably and positively correlated with therapists' ratings of behavioral undercontrol and substance abuse and negatively correlated with ratings of behavioral overcontrol. There were few reliable correlates for the scales that had not been previously validated with adolescents in treatment for substance abuse, and these scales were not reliably correlated with therapists' ratings of substance abuse.