Robert P. ARCHER : MMPI-A : Assessing Adolescent Psychopathology

Preface to the Second Edition

The first edition of MMPI-A : Assessing Adolescent Psychopathology was published in August 1992 to coincide with the original release of testing materials for the MMPI-A and the manual for this instrument. At the time of this revision, approximately 4 years has transpired since the original writing of this text, and this second edition attempts to incorporate recent information relevant to the use of the MMPI-A. The revision represents a relatively limited modification of the original text because of the limited amount of new literature that has appeared on the MMPI-A since 1992. Although this revision incorporates approximately 100 new references, most of these citations are related to MMPI-2 studies that are directly relevant to the use of the MMPI-A. Illustrating this point, much of the extensive research on MMPI-2 validity assessment that has been published over the past 4 years is also applicable to the use of MMPI-A validity scales because of the strong similarities in these scales between the two instruments. However, there has also been a steady, albeit small, stream of publications on the MMPI-A that are included in this revised text. For example, among the issues not covered in the original 1992 text is the development of the MMPI-A Structural Summary form based on factor analytic findings with the MMPI-A and the utilization of this approach in test interpretation. In summary, the purpose of the current revision is to update the original 1992 text to ensure that it provides a comprehensive and contemporary review of the literature relevant to the MMPI-A. Beyond this objective, the basic structure of the text has remained faithful to its original form.