The performance of male prisoners on the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale. II. Differences as a function of race and crime

Stress, Coping, and Mexican American Mental Health: A Systematic Review

While there has been a rapid growth in mental health research which focuses on the Mexican American population, differences in theoretical formulations and consequent research methodologies have led to a host of conflicting findings. These conflicting findings are then often difficult to translate into useful clinical applications which would make clinical services more relevant and acceptable to this growing population. One suggested solution to the problem has been to develop more systematic theoretical frameworks for guiding Mexican American mental health research. In this vein a new theoretical model was presented. The model is based upon recent concepts regarding the relationship between psychological stress and consequent physical and/or psychological illnesses. This model includes some important intervening or mediating variables which may serve to aggravate or buffer the aversive impact of exposure to potential stressors. Examination of these intervening variables is of clinical importance in promoting a better understanding of the experience of stress and its relationship to various forms of psychopathology. The model allows for critical examination of those intervening variables which are particularly relevant to Mexican Americans. In addition to presenting this stress-mediation-out-come model, an attempt was made to synthesize extant Mexican American mental health research within the framework of the proposed model. This synthesis served as a basis for identifying conceptual and methodological problems in past research, as well as for identifying current gaps in this large body of research. Finally, an attempt was made to delineate new lines of mental health research which are more consistent with the postulated stress-mediation-outcome model.

Personality Structure of Mexican Americans Using the Comrey Personality Scales

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were used to examine the personality structure of 176 Mexican American college students. A majority of the eight factors maintained substantial loadings and corresponded closely with Comrey's normative sample as well as with Brazilian and New Zealand samples. Two factors, Conformity and Orderliness, showed the weakest fit across all four groups. Overall, the CPS shows adequate measurement properties for "normal" personality assessment among Mexican Americans and is preferable to instruments such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). However, the external validity of the CPS with clinical populations must first be determined prior to its use to assess psychopathology among Mexican Americans.

Intellectual Ability Correlates of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale

The hypothesis that the Marlowe-Crowne Scale would be negatively related to a variety of intellectual ability measures was investigated in a sample of college students. As predicted, MC scores were negatively correlated with measures of intelligence (Quick Test), associational ability (Remote Associates Test), and academic achievement (course grades). These results suggest that the vulnerable self-esteem and defensiveness traditionally ascribed to high versus low MC scorers may at least in part, reflect a history of poorer performance in intellectual and academically related activities.

Fatigue varies by social class in african americans but not caucasian americans

Socioeconomic status explains many ethnic disparities in health; however, mechanisms are hard to identify. Fatigue-a frequent complaint in patients and normals-is associated with poorer quality of life. We wondered if ethnicity and social class interact to explain fatigue. A total of 40 African Americans (AAs) and 64 Caucasian Americans (CAs) completed short forms of the Profile of Mood States (POMS-SF) and Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory (MFSI-SF). Participants were divided into high-middle and low social class groups (as per Hollingshead, 1958a). After controlling for gender, body mass index, depressive symptoms, and response bias, ethnicity and social class interacted for POMS-SF fatigue. AAs in the high-middle classes reported more fatigue than AAs in the low classes and CAs in the high-middle classes. Fatigue did not differ by class for CAs nor by ethnicity in the lower classes. Similar findings emerged for MFSI-SF general fatigue. Social class is important for understanding fatigue in AAs but not CAs.

Hispanic-American MMPI research (1949-1992): a comprehensive bibliography

The purpose of this article is twofold. The first is to outline key events in the history of Hispanic MMPI research. Since 1949, researchers have documented the MMPI performance of Hispanic-Americans in a variety of clinical and nonclinical settings. The second purpose is to present a comprehensive bibliography of Hispanic MMPI research by research setting. A total of 86 studies are listed in this bibliography.

Clinical relevance of the Marlowe-Crowne Scale: a review and recommendations

Research is reviewed which indicates the potential utility of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCS) in a variety of clinical assessment contexts. In relation to other assessment devices, the MCS has been used to enhance predictive accuracy of several scales, and has predicted defensive reactions to negative personality test feedback. Research is also reviewed regarding MCS relationships to self-disclosure, therapy process variables, premature termination from psychotherapy, and selection of subjects for psychotherapy research. The role of the MCS as a therapy outcome measure is also discussed. Scoring norms for normal and clinical groups are presented, including discussion of the effects of age, education and race on MCS scores. A number of avenues for future research with the MCS are described.

A cross-cultural MMPI comparison of alcoholics

MMPI Profiles of 11 Caucasian, 11 Hispanic American, and 11 American Indian alcoholics were compared. The subjects were chosen randomly from among veterans in treatment for alcoholism at a small VA Medical Center. Subjects represented similar secondary diagnoses and did not differ significantly in age or education. One-way nonrepeated-measures analyses of variance on validity, clinical and the MacAndrews Alcoholism Scales showed significance only for Scale 2 scores, elevated for the Hispanic American group but within the normal range. Examination of dominant highpoint code types in each group indicated primarily 4 or 49 for the Caucasians and 24 for the Hispanic Americans. American Indian subjects were more heterogeneous with 1, 6, or 9 highpoints. Generally, the resultant profiles conform to previously published alcoholic MMPI prototypes, supporting use of the MMPI for the population studied. The results do not support development of separate MMPI norms for psychiatric subjects from these minority groups, but cross-validation on a larger sample is required.