Assessment in Counseling 5th Ed: Ch 13 and Ch 14 Personality Assessment and Interpersonal Relationships

Personality

looks at the personal, social traits, emotional, and behavior in a client

4 Objectives are used to construct an objective personality inventory

1. Logical content method

2. theoretical method

3. criterion group method

4. factor analytic method

Logical content method

1. identifies statements that seem to be related to the content of the characteristic being assessed

a. This approach assumes the validity of each item. They assume that the test taker has evaluated his or her own characteristics

Theoretical method

1. items are developed to measure constructs represented by a particular theory of personality

a. A construct validity approach is used to determine if the results are consistent with the theory

Criterion group method

1. begins with a sample with the known characteristics

i. Ex: person diagnosed with schizophrenia

a. An item pool is then administered to individuals in the known sample and to a control group (control=normal population)

b. The items that distinguish the item pool are then used on a scale similar to the Strong Interest Inventory

Factor Analytic method

1. a statistical procedure is used to examine the inter-correlations between all of the items on the inventory

a. Done solely on a computer, groups items into factors until a substantial proportion of the variability between the items has been accounted for by the dimensions that have resulted.

b. This method has been used to create the BIG FIVE

MMPI-2

-Purpose: to evaluate individuals for mental disorders and aid counselors and other helping professionals in tx planning (and personality)

-includes 3 validity scales that enable the counselor to assess the client's attitude toward the testing process

a. L, F, K

-includes 15 content scales that can help interpret the 10 clinical scales

- hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviate, masculinity-femininity, paranoia, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, hypomania, and social introversion

MMPI-2-RF

-shorter than the MMPI-2

-used to evaluate inpatient and outpatient clients, those with substance abuse, criminals, personal injury and disability evaluations, and public safety employment evaluations

MMPI-A

-the MMPI used to be administered to adolescents (whoa)

-clinical scales and content scales each have a number of subscales that can be used to help interpret the scale scores

-differs: norms, item content, and the nature of some of its scales

-provides separate sex norms for ages 14-18

-contains 89 fewer items so more people are wiling to take it

-scores on the clinical and content scales yield adequate test-retest reliability and internal consistency coefficients when used with adolescents

-same validity is used both with the MMPI-A and the original MMPI (use the same items)

Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III)

-an alternative to the MMPI, and also diagnoses psychopathology

-shorter than the MMPI

-more closely tied to the DSM (psychiatric classifications are easier to make)

-recently updated with new gender norms and added an inconsistency scale to detect random responses

-other inventories should be used before administering the MCMI-III: BDI or the Inventory of Common Problems

-it is MORE accurate in identifying the psychiatric diagnoses of patients

- for adolescents MACI

Millon Index of Personality Styles - Revised (MIPS-R)

-"NORMAL" personality assessment

-it is intended for various counseling situations involving relationships, career placement, or problems in daily living

-180 true or false items (24 scales and 4 validity scales)

-grouped into 3 dimensions of normal personality

a. motivating styles: assesses a person's emotional style in dealing with his or her environment

b. thinking styles: examines a person's mode of cognitive processing

c. behaving styles: assesses a person's way of interrelating with others

-also has an adolescent version: Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory

Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)

-designed to provide information on "relevant clinical variables" for individuals 18 years +

-includes 4 types of scales:

1. validity scales: inconsistency, infrequency, negative impression, positive impression

2. clinical scales: somatic complaints, anxiety, anxiety-related disorders, depression, mania, paranoiac, schizophrenia, borderline features, antisocial features, alcohol problems, drug problems

3. tx scales: aggression, suicidal ideation, stress, nonsupport, tx rejection

4. interpersonal scales: dominance, warmth

-fourth grade reading level, takes about 50 minutes to complete

-full scales exhibit adequate test-retest reliabilities, high internal consistency coefficients

-substantial convergent and discriminant validity

-shorter version: Personality Assessment Screener (PAS)

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

-based on Carl Jung's concepts that different types of people have differences in perception and judgment

1. extraversion v. introversion: where you focus your attention

2.sensing v. intuitive: the way you take in information

3.thinking v. feeling: the way you make decisions

4.judging v. perceiving: how you deal with the outer world

-16 different types total

-scoring results from forced-choice items

-internal consistency is high

-test-retest reliability data is 50-50 because someone can retake the test and receive a different score (if taken again 3 of the letters would be the same)

-attractive assessment because...there are no good or bad score combinations (can be looked at as strengths)

-lack of criterion-related validity

-alternative to the MBTI is...Keirsey Tempermant Sorter II (KTS-II)

California Psychological Inventory (CPI)

-"NORMAL" personality assessment

-assesses an individual's strengths and positive personality attributes

-designed to measure everyday traits, "folk concpets"

Like...sociability, tolerance, and responsibility

-briefer form: CPI 260

-separated into 4 clusters:

a. Class 1: assess interpersonal adequacy

b. Class 2: measures socialization, responsibility, and character

c. Class 3: measures intellectual and academic themes (useful for educational couns.)

d. Class 4: mixed group psychological mindedness, flexibility, and femininity/masculinity

-3 of the scales are validity scales: used to detect faking or other test taking attitudes ("fake bad")

-test-retest reliabilities are high, predictive and concurrent validity are used

-3 vector scales were also used to measure broad aspects of personality structure

1. Vector 1: internality v. externality

2. Vector 2: norm favoring v. norm questioning

3. Vector 3: self-doubting vulnerability v. self-actualization

-not shown to be effective for clinical assessment because it was not designed for that purpose, although extreme scores can provide useful information about an individual's maladjustment

-one of the BEST and most POPULAR personality inventories available

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF)

-developed through the factor-analytic technique

-scales:

1. Practical v. Imaginative

2. Trusting v. Suspicious

3. Concrete v. Abstract

4. Shy v. Socially Bold

5. Relaxed v. Tense

-high school version: High School Personality Questionnaire

-adolescent version: Children's Personality Questionnaire

-3 validity scales have been developed to:

1. detect random sampling

2. detect faking-good responses

3. predict attempts to give a bad impression

-3 ways to interpret the assessment:

1. Inspect the 3 validity scales to determine if the results are trustworthy

2. interpret global scores and their patterns to evaluate overall adjustment level

3. interpret very high or vey low primary factor scores

4. interpret patterns of primary factor scores

-high test-retest reliabilities

-predictive validity is used in this assessment

NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)

-used to assess the BIG FIVE personalities

Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness

-NEO 4 is used for employment purposes (excludes Neuroticism)

-self-reports and ratings by another individual are used for this assessment

-good assessment of "NORMAL" personality

-show incremental predictive validity when added to the MMPI-2

Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventories

-self-esteem: the evaluation a person makes and customarily maintains with regard to themselves

1. School A Form

-designed for students ages 8-15

-shown to have significant relationship between self-esteem and school performance

2. Adult Form C

-answers include: "like me" or "unlike me"

-measures of internal consistency show acceptable reliabilities for both the sub-scores and the total scores

-the Behavioral Academic Self-Esteem (BASE) was created as a rating scale for teachers to use to evaluate the student's performance

-checks the accuracy of a student's self-perception

Tennessee Self-Concept Scale

-measures self-concept in terms of identity, feelings, and behaviors

-adolescent version: Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale

Rorschach Inkblot Test

-projective test

-responses are classified and scored to set criteria, such as the location of the response on the ink blot, the feature that determined the response, and the content of the response

-Exner's Comprehensive System (CS) is used to score the test (shown to have significant inter-scorer reliability

-scoring is as follows:

1. location: whole blot or partial

2. determinant: feature or color

3. content: ex. clouds, geography, anatomy

4. popularity: common or original

-considerable validity in identifying certain personality characteristics

-criticized for clinical sample norms and a tendency to make people feel as if they have mental health issues

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

-apperception: perceive in terms of past perceptions

-similar to the inkblot where you interpret what you see

-examinee is asked to make up a story about each picture and to include what is currently happening in the picture, what led up to that situation, how people in the story feel, and how the story ends

-expected to identify with the hero in their story and project their needs, attitudes, and feelings

-scoring: frequency of various themes, the intensity and duration of the story, and the outcomes are taken into account

-the assumption is that you will be able to interpret what the individual is going through based on their story

-sometimes in the interview process only a few cards are shown to gain rapport with the client so they can open up and feel comfortable

-children ages 3-10 use the Children's Apperception Test (CAT) that uses animals in human social settings

-Thompson TAT (T-TAT) and TEMAS (Spanish version) are intended to represent diverse populations

Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank

-sentence completion technique

a person is asked to complete a number of sentence fragments that are related to possible conflicts and emotions

-it is expected that attitudes, traits, and emotions, will be expressed in the responses

Draw a Person

-counselors are encouraged to use the projective assessment as a means for evaluating behavioral or emotional problems within the context of the clinical interview

House-Tree-Person

-projective drawing technique attempting to assess a child's level of cognitive maturity

-more widely used because it is easier to use

-individual draws a house, tree, and a person (each on separate sheets) and then they are asked to describe, define, and interpret each of the drawings

Battery for Health Improvement 2 (BHI-2)

-designed to identify relevant factors that may interfere with health improvement or injury recovery

-Brief Battery for Health Improvement 2

Coping with Health Injuries and Problems

-used to examine psychological strategies a client is using to cope with physical health problems and to suggest more effective ones

Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle

-deals with lifestyle behaviors, perceptions, and attitudes

-designed to assess: self-regulation, work and leisure, and love

Lifestyle Assessment Questionnaire

-assesses lifestyles in 6 areas

-not well developed in terms of reliability and validity

-useful in reviewing current behavior and planning future lifestyle activities

Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis (TJTA)

-assess interpersonal relationships and personal adjustment

-a unique feature of this instrument is the crisscross procedure in which one person records his or her impressions of another person

-valuable when working with parent-adolescent interactions, sibling conflict, and premarital or couples counseling

Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (MSI-R)

-self-report inventory designed to assess couples' interactions and the extent of couple's distress

-13 subscales and Global Distress scale: measure general unhappiness and uncertain commitment in the partnership

-a social desirability scale and an inconsistency scale are included as a check on the response set of the test taker, ALSO an aggression scale has been added

-each partner takes it and scores are assessed together on areas of agreement and disagreement

-administered during the initial contact with the counselor or agency

-paints a picture of the couple's overall relationship distress, general quality of their communication, and the differences between their perceptions of aspects of their relationship

-validity studies: reasonable correlations that measure relationship satisfaction

-high internal consistency coefficients and test-retest reliabilities

Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI)

-10 scales:

1. Information: measures amount of a client's accurate sexual information

2. Experience: measures sexual behaviors ranging from kissing on the lips to oral sex

3. Sexual Drive: measures the frequency of various sexual behaviors

4. Attitude: measures the diversity of liberal and conservative attitudes

-measures current functioning

-certain scales: sexual information, sexual desire, and gender roles show low internal consistency

-can provide counselors with considerable information regarding sexual functioning

Couples Precounseling Inventory (CPCI)

-norms: non married heterosexual and gay couples

-purpose: planning and evaluating relationships therapy based on a social learning model

-couples describe current interaction patterns rather than personality characteristics

-based on the social learning theory and is designed to examine relationship characteristics and motivations that can be useful in suggesting avenues of tx if the relationship is to survive

Family Environment Scale (FES)

-consists of three forms that assess the client's perception of the family as it is (the REAL FORM), as he or she would prefer it to be (the IDEAL FORM), and as he or she would expect it to react to new situations (the EXPECTATION FORM)

-assumption: family environments have unique personalities that can be measured in the same way as individual personalities can

-criticized for: middle-class bias, and for not taking into consideration today's varying family patterns

-validity evidence is shown in the differences in mean scores between non distressed and distressed families

Sternberg's Triangular Love Scale

-measures 3 components of romantic relationships: intimacy, passion, and commitment

-according to Sternberg all 3 components must be assessed in evaluating the quality of a romantic relationship

Dyadic Adjustment Scale

-measures the quality of interpersonal adjustment

-couples rate the extent to which they agree with their partner as well as how often they engage in various activities

-there is support for reliability and validity, but the norms are outdated (white couples in Pennsylvania)

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

actual threatened physical, emotional, or sexual abuse against a partner by the other partner in a romantic relationship, such as dating relationships, marriage, civil union, or other form of partnership

-3 major types of IPV: physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse

- 30% of female's experience IPV in their lifetimes

-7 themes and related limitations seen in content analysis

7 themes and related limitations seen in content analysis

1. Relationship content: specific type and depth of the relationship

2. Forms of abuse: physical, emotional, and sexual

3. Imminent risk indicators: refers to immediate life-threatening acts or feelings

4. Family Dynamics: processes within the IPV survivor's current family system

5. Degree of support: refers to availiabity of resources and support systems

6. Assessment structure: assessment administration method

7. Psychometric information: includes reliability and validity properties of an assessment

Physical abuse

intentional infliction of physical injury

sexual abuse

includes exposing or involving children in age-inappropriate sexual content or behaviors

psychological abuse

verbal attacks and threats

neglect

includes engaging in acts of omissions that deprive a child of basic medical, educational, mental health, and other needs

internalizing symptoms

such as low self-esteem, anger, hypervigilance, fear, depression, or withdrawal

externalizing symptoms

aggression toward siblings and peers, self injurious behaviors

cognitive distortions

negative self-perceptions and excessive perceptions of the world as dangerous

Assessment of Child Abuse

-many long-term effects of child abuse are similar to symptoms found in IPV cases (not surprising)

-assessing child maltreatment among children and adult survivors:

1. Counselors are to be aware of the current abuse literature

2. Counselors should assess mediating factors in addition to common symptoms to intentionally assess abuse as experience v. diagnosis.

3. Taking an ecological approach to assessment, involving significant others in the individual's life as appropriate: assess relationships before and after abuse

4. Counselors should treat assessment as an ongoing process

Genograms

-map that provides a graphic representation of a family structure and is usually associated with Bowen's family system theory

-used to demonstrate origins of presenting problems, as it is assumed that family patterns tend to repeat themselves

-visual tool: used to understand an individual, couple, or family in relation to a broader family structure and its sociocultural context

-involves the collection of demographic information for approximately three generations of family and organizes the information into a kind of family tree

-gather data ranging from the presenting problem to the larger context of the problem, from the immediate household to the extended family and social systems, from the present family situation and events to historical occurrences, and from basic facts about the family to more sensitive information

-in drawing the genogram, some counselors obtain the basic information to structure the genogram and then go back and question each individual about it and their relationships with other family members, both within and across generations

-clients readily become interested and involved in the construction of a genogram, they enjoy the process and usually reveal much significant information about various relatives and their relationships with them

Interpersonal Circle

-circular rather than linear model: behavior is viewed not solely by situation factors or psychic motivation but instead within a group of 2 or more people exerting mutual influence

Interpersonal Transactions and Checklist of Psychotherapy Transactions (CLOIT)

-rating clients and counselors that include the INTERPERSONAL COMPASS and the IMAPCT MESSAGE INVENTORY

Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS)

-self-report instrument that assesses the two primary interpersonal dimensions of dominance and nurturance, builds on experience gained with previously developed interpersonal assessment inventories

-designed to provide information about how an individual typically behaves in different interpersonal situations

Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument

-most used when conflict resolution is needed

-30 forced choice items are used to assess the style of how someone handles a conflict

-reliability indices both internal consistency and test-retest are high

Structured Personality Assessment/ Objective Assessment

Standardized, self-report measures that often use some forced-choice response format.

Ex: Multiple choice, true/false

Unstructured Personality Assessment/ Projective Assessment

Involve a counselor presenting unstructured tasts to the examinee, whose responses to these tasks are expected to reflect need, experiences, inner states, and thought processes.

Projective Hypothesis

Responses to ambiguous stimuli reflect a person's basic personality.

Holland's Classification of Personality Types

6 Types

1. Investigative: Scientific/Mathematical/Analytical

2. Artistic: Music/Art/Writing/Creative Activities

3. Social: Working with or Helping others

4. Enterprising: Business/Management/Sales

5. Conventional: Organizing data/Attention to Detail

6. Realistic: Technical/Mechanical