Psychologist versus client perspectives in the assessment of psychopathology

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory(MMPI) and the Psychiatric Status Schedule (PSS) were administered to two samples of clients who were participating in large-scale investigations of the rehabilitation counseling process (N = 108) and private psychotherapy (N = 113). The MMPI summarized the clients’ subjective views of their emotional status while the PSS provided an assessment that had been filtered through the psychologists’ perspectives. Statistical analyses of the resulting multivariable-multimethod matrix revealed a substantial convergence of client and psychologist perspectives. The assessment of depression was the symptom area in which the greatest agreement occurred (r’s of .60 and .70); canonical correlations which used all MMPI and PSS scales approached the theoretical maximum values (Rc’s of .75 and .84). Further analyses suggested that the PSS provides a broader assessment of psychopathology than does the MMPI by summarizing unique diagnostic information. While an average of 40% of the variance in the MMPI sets was predictable from the PSS, only 16% of the PSS variance was predictable from the MMPI.