Walker, Johanna (2010) Development of a Structural Summary Approach to the Interpretation of the Personality Assessment Inventory in a Forensic Setting. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is one of the most widely used measures of psychosocial functioning and psychopathology in the assessment of clinical populations. With this popularity comes the need to demonstrate the applicability of this inventory in the various clinical settings in which it is being employed. It is surprising, therefore, that the factor structure of the PAI has not been extensively studied within various clinical populations. One setting in which the role of any test must be formally evaluated is the medicolegal arena and the evaluation of personal injury claims. The aim of this study was to utilise factor analytic methods to generate a structural summary for the PAI that is specifically adapted for use in assessing personal injury claimants. Initially this involved conducting a principal component analysis with varimax rotation to replicate the factor structures revealed in previous studies of various clinical populations. This highlighted some similarities, but more importantly identified differences in the relationships amongst scales across different clinical populations. The initial analysis also highlighted the difficulty in examining the factor structure of the PAI at the scale level and the implications this may have on interpretation. In order to more extensively examine the factor structure of the PAI within a forensic setting, 337 protocols of personal injury claimants were examined at the subscale level, using a principal component analysis with promax rotation. This revealed seven components, which accounted for 70.3 percent of the variance in test scores and were determined to evaluate psychological distress, antisocial behaviours, psychotic symptoms, social support, aggression, somatic complaints and manic controlling. While the structure generally supported subscales as examining the themes of their parent scale in greater detail, some subscales, those of SCZ (Schizophrenia) and BOR (Borderline), notably dissociated and loaded on different components. This suggests that the existing structure of the PAI with regard to its scales and subscales may not be the most effective way of examining the psychosocial status of personal injury claimants. A structural summary derived from this principal component analysis was developed to assist clinicians in scoring and interpreting PAI protocols completed by personal injury claimants. Normative standards were computed using RAPT methodology and the utility of the structural approach was illustrated with case examples. This research demonstrates how clinicians can better evaluate and adapt their psychological instruments for the clinical settings in which they are applied. More importantly it highlights that assumptions regarding the applicability of the PAI in its standard form to diverse clinical settings is unsupported. Clinicians who fail to address this issue are vulnerable to making mistakes in interpretation and, at best, failing to derive valuable information in relation to their clients.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Senior, Graeme |
| Qualification: | Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Mar 2026 03:10 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Mar 2026 03:10 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52853 |
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