| While there are several studies on Latinos and the MMPI-2, many of which are unpublished, there is a lack of culturally-based research on the new MMPI-2 RF, which is a restructured form of the MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 RF relies on the Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales as the anchoring scales to determine pathology. The RC Scales eliminated first-factor items that theoretically elevated several Clinical Scales and they were all grouped into the Demoralization Scale (RCd). The aim of this study was to explore the how Latinos with a unipolar mood disorder manifest their symptoms on the MMPI-2's Clinical Scales compared to the RC Scales. It was hypothesized that several of the RC Scales would be significantly lower than their corresponding Clinical Scales based on the first-factor being eliminated from the RC Scales. Also, based on the work by Stolberg and others, who have found that the new MMPI-2 RF may artificially suppress symptoms of pathology, this sample was expected to do the same. Data was analyzed using several t-tests (n=74) and found that depressed Latinos elevated the Depression Scale (74.08) more than any other Clinical Scale, whereas Somatic Complaints (69.31) was the most elevated RC Scale. This suggests that the Clinical Scales and the RC Scales capture depression differently in Latinos and that Latinos with depressionare likely to present their pathology as exclusively somatic on the MMPI-2 RF. In an exploratory analysis the means of all MMPI-2 RF scales were reported. It was found that Infrequent Responses (79.45), Infrequent Somatic Responses (72.09), Symptom Validity (72.20), Malaise (69.53), Neurological Complaints (65.82), Cognitive Complaints (67.77), and Anxiety (67.81) were all clinically elevated. Clinical implications of this study suggest that the MMPI-2 RF is more likely to identify depression in Latinos by looking at scales that address the somatization of symptoms, such as Somatic Complaints; whereas the Depression Scale's relative elevation to Clinical Scales was indicative of depression on the MMPI-2. Implications for continued research with the MMPI-2 RF with Latinos and other minority groups are discussed. Overall, the use of the MMPI-2 RF with Latinos appears to be premature. |
