THE IDENTIFICATION OF NEUROLOGICALLY RELEVANT ITEMS IN THE MMPI-2

The assessment of personality and (mal) adjustment after brain damage is regarded as an important aspect of rehabilitation. However, the adm inistration of widely used self-report questionnaires, such as the Min nesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), is restricted bec ause of the danger of overscoring psychopathology and personality diso rders. This is due to the inclusion of items reflecting manifestations of neurological dysfunction. Earlier investigations revealed variable neurologically relevant items (NRIs), within and between discrete cer ebral aetiologies for the MMPI as well as the first part of the MMPI-2 . In this study, 10 neuropsychologists, 10 neurologists, 10 psychiatri sts, and 10 physiatrists identified NRIs in the complete MMPI-2. An it em was considered to be an NRI based on professional expertise as well as type of brain damage. Based on a substantial inter-rater agreement index, four sets of clinical relevant NRIs were selected: one for bra in damage in general and three partially overlapping sets for stroke, traumatic brain damage, and whiplash. Thus, the findings of this study unveil items which may indicate bona fide symptoms or manifestations related to neurological damage or dysfunction, rather than just reflec ting psychopathology or personality disorders. It is advocated to deve lop an interpretative approach to correct for the impact of these NRIs on MMPI-2 scores.