Utility of the MMPI-2-RF in Sexual Violence Risk Assessment

Abstract

The prediction of sexual violence recidivism is an important societal concern and has been the frequent subject of psychological research. Although research has supported the use of the MMPI-2-RF in violence risk assessment, there is a paucity of research related to sexual violence risk assessment. The present study evaluated the convergent validity of the MMPI-2-RF with measures used in sexual violence risk assessment evaluations (i.e., the Static 99, SVR-20, and PCL:SV) in a sample of German inmates in a psychological treatment setting. Analyses generally showed an expected pattern of results, with MMPI-2-RF externalizing scales having the strongest associations with measures of violence and sexual violence risk assessment. Indeed, although smaller associations were found with Static-99 scales, there were moderate to large associations between SVR-20 and PCL:SV scores and MMPI-2-RF externalizing scales. Taken together, these findings suggest that, although the MMPI-2-RF does not appear to be associated with specific static risk factors (e.g., previous victim qualities, type of sexual offenses), the externalizing scales on the MMPI-2-RF are useful in examining more dynamic factors (e.g., those assessed on the SVR-20) in conjunction with other dynamic and static risk tools (e.g., SVR-20, Static-99) in sexual violence risk evaluations.

Keywords:

• MMPI-2-RF
• sexual violence
• risk assessment
• psychopathy
• SVR-20

Conflict of interest

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

Notes

1 A subset of the sample was administered both the MMPI-2-RF and the PCL:SV, but did not have a history of sexual offenses. These individuals were included in analyses examining the convergence between the MMPI-2-RF and PCL:SV scores, but were not included in other analyses.