Comparative Validity of MMPI-A Scales Scores in African American and Caucasian Male Juvenile Delinquents

This study examined comparative validity of the MMPI-A scale scores of African American and Caucasian male juvenile delinquents utilizing a step down hierarchical regression procedure proposed by Laughtenschlager & Mendoza (1986). The MMPI-A (Butcher et al., 1992) was administered to 281 African American and Caucasian juvenile delinquents while their caretakers filled out the CBCL (Achenbach, 1991; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and DBRS (Barkley & Murphy, 1998), which were used as extra-test measures. Significant overall prediction bias was detected in 15 out of 56 regressions. Statistically significant prediction bias was found for a subset of criterion variables for Clinical Scales 2, 4, and 9, as well as Content Scales A-dep, A-hea, A-ang, and A-con and Supplementary Scale IMM. Slope bias was found for A-hea with DSM-Oriented Somatic Problems . Statistically significant intercept bias was demonstrated for 13 out of 56 criterion variables. Overall, when statistically significant intercept bias was found, none exceeded a small effect size. Possible practical implications and directions for future research are presented