A Comparison Between Comprehensive System and an Early Version of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System Administration With Outpatient Children and Adolescents

Abstract

For many years, the effects of variability in the length of Rorschach records has been debated, and a new administration procedure aimed at reducing the proportion of short and long records has recently been introduced. Using an outpatient sample of children and adolescents, this study explored the impact of an early version of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS) administration, on the central tendencies of Rorschach variables. Specifically, the mean values of 51 variables in 142 Comprehensive System versus 99 R–PAS collected records were compared with each other. Results found comparable mean values across CS and R–PAS administration methods for the variables that guide interpretation with children and adolescents. Both methods produced a comparable number of long (> 27 responses) records. The only relevant difference that emerged is that the early R–PAS administration version yielded significantly fewer short (14–16 responses) records and lower variability in the number of responses.

Acknowledgments

We thank Heidi Miller, MA for volunteering her time to recode some of the Rorschach protocols used to establish interrater reliability. We also thank all of the predoctoral interns, both past and present, and other staff members of Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health who administered the Rorschachs used in this study. Lastly, we thank Marie Barkheimer of Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health for her assistance in gathering data from the Rorschach Interpretation Assistance Program database.