Psychometric Examination, Adaptation, and Evaluation of the Hebrew Translation of the MMPI–2–RF VRIN-r and TRIN-r Validity Scales

ABSTRACT

In this study we examined the utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008/2011; Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2008/2011) Variable Response Inconsistency–Revised (VRIN-r) and True Response Inconsistency–Revised (TRIN-r) scales, including alternative versions of the scales, in the Hebrew translation of the test. First, we examined the applicability of the U.S. VRIN-r and TRIN-r scales in an Israeli Hebrew-speaking mixed clinical sample, and replaced original item pairs that did not meet the development criteria with substitution item pairs that did. Then, using the Israeli normative sample and a pure clinical sample, we compared the psychometric functioning of the adapted Hebrew-language VRIN-r and TRIN-r scales with that of the original versions of these scales under various conditions of simulated non-content-based (random and fixed) responding. Overall, results showed that the adapted versions of the scales did not improve on the original ones. We therefore recommend using the U.S. VRIN-r and TRIN-r versions, which could also facilitate cross-cultural comparisons.

Acknowledgment

Portions of this study were presented at the 50th Annual MMPI Symposium, Minneapolis, MN.

Disclosure

Yossef S. Ben-Porath and Auke Tellegen are paid consultants to the MMPI publisher, the University of Minnesota Press, and the test distributor, Pearson Assessments. As coauthors for the MMPI–2–RF they receive royalties on sales of the test. Moshe Almagor is the director of the Personality Assessment Laboratory at the University of Haifa. As a developer of the Hebrew version of the MMPI–2, he receives royalties from the University of Haifa.

Notes

¹ The development of the U.S. VRIN-r and TRIN-r scales was based on clinical samples, which included outpatients from a community mental health center as well as psychiatric inpatients from a community hospital and from a VA hospital. Further details regarding these samples are provided by Tellegen and Ben-Porath (2008/2011).

² The Hebrew versions of VRIN-r and TRIN-r scales were applied. The Hebrew version of VRIN-r did not function as expected, and therefore the U.S. VRIN-r has been applied as well.

³ The inclusion of the U.S. VRIN-r scale cutoff resulted in only two additional cases being removed from the data set. The sample size for simulated fixed responding was 227.

⁴ All validity T scores were calculated using the mean raw scores and standard deviations of the Israeli normative sample of 300 individuals.