The use of Harris-Lingoes subscales to identify substance use in a population including juvenile offenders and substance users Substance abuse among adolescents is regularly studied to improve assessment and treatment. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) is one of the most common measures of pathology for adolescents, and is particularly popular within offender populations. However, there are several drawbacks to some of the MMPI-A scales most frequently used to assess for substance use, including heterogeneity of the item contents, the degree to which some scales measure elements of personality related to substance use rather than substance use itself, and the necessity of honest reporting. Given that no single indicator is sufficiently effective, continuing research looks for increments in the ability to identify problems with substances. The Harris-Lingoes (HL) subscales were created to supplement standard scales of the MMPI-A. The main hypothesis for this study was that these scales would improve the identification of substance abusers among a population of juvenile delinquents when used in conjunction with two Clinical scales, Pd and Ma. Participants were either serving time at a Juvenile Detention Center or receiving outpatient treatment for substance abuse. A total of 112 adolescent boys participated. For both groups, administration of the MMPI-A was part of a standard assessment completed for treatment planning. Logistic regression analyses were performed to test hypotheses. Results provided little evidence for the use of the HL subscales as an adjunct for the prediction of substance abuse status within this population. Interestingly, the scales which prior research found most effective at identifying substance use were unable to predict substance abuse status in this study. As a measure of personality and general pathology, the MMPI-A was not a practical tool for the identification of substance use with this population. The use of a more specific instrument designed to measure discrete substance using behaviors may be warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) https://www.upress.umn.edu/test-division/bibliography/2000-2009/2007/didonato_use_2007 https://www.upress.umn.edu/logo.png

Katherine Didonato (2007)

The use of Harris-Lingoes subscales to identify substance use in a population including juvenile offenders and substance users

PhD thesis.

Keywords

Abuse
Abusers
Adolescent
Adolescent boys
adolescents
APA
Behavior
Clinical scales
Delinquents
Detention
Harris Lingoes subscales
Harris-Lingoes Subscales
Heterogeneity
item content
juvenile offenders
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Adolescent
MMPI-A
Offender population
Offenders
Outpatient treatment
Personality
Prediction
Regression
Research
Subscale
Substance abuse
Substance use
Test
Time
Treatment
Treatment planning

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The use of Harris-Lingoes subscales to identify substance use in a population including juvenile offenders and substance users