Evaluation of telehealth administration of MMPI symptom validity scales

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Telehealth assessment (TA) is a quickly emerging practice, offered with increasing frequency across many different clinical contexts. TA is also well-received by most patients, and there are numerous guidelines and training opportunities which can support effective telehealth practice. Although there are extensive recommended practices, these guidelines have rarely been evaluated empirically, particularly on personality measures. While existing research is limited, it does generally support the idea that TA and in-person assessment (IA) produce fairly equitable test scores. The MMPI-3, a recently released and highly popular personality and psychopathology measure has been the subject of several of those experimental or student (non-client) based studies; however, no study to date has evaluated these trends within a clinical sample. This study empirically tests for differences in TA and IA test scores on the MMPI-3 validity scores when following recommended administration procedures.

Method

Data were from a retrospective chart review. Veterans (n = 550) who underwent psychological assessment in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center ADHD evaluation clinic were contrasted between in person and telehealth assessment modalities on the MMPI-2-RF and MMPI-3. Groups were compared using t tests, chi square, and base rates.

Results

Results suggest that there were minimal differences in elevation rates or mean scores across modality, supporting the use of TA.

Conclusions

This study’s findings support the use of the MMPI via TA with ADHD evaluations, Veterans, and in neuro/psychological evaluation settings more generally. Observed elevation rates and mean scores of this study were notably different from those seen in other VA service clinics sampled nationally, which is an area of future investigation.

KEYWORDS:

• ADHD
• veteran
• symptom validity
• telepsychology
• telehealth

Acknowledgments

The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this article are those of the authors and should not be construed as an official VA position, policy, or decision unless so designated by other official documentation. Paul Ingram receives research support in the form of test administrations from the publisher (University of Minnesota Press) and distributor (Pearson Clinical Assessments) of the MMPI-2-RF/3. These supports were not used in this study. He is also on the advisory board for the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), published and distributed by PAR Inc, a competitor of the MMPI-family of measures.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Salisbury VA Health Care System, VA Mid-Atlantic (VISN 6) Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Program in Mental Illness, Research, and Treatment.