Psychological Reporh, 1991, 68, 123-127.
@ Psychological Reports 1991
MMPI DIFFERENCES AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN MALE AND FEMALE PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS ' ROBERTO J. VELASQUEZ AND WENDELL J. CALLAHAN
Sun Dtego State UniversiQ RICARDO CARRILLO
Pacific Graduate School of Psychology Summary.-The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent MexicanAmerican male and female psychiatric patients, who share similar DSM-111-R diagnoses, differ on the MMPI. Differences were found on the Infrequency, Masculinity-Femininity, and Paranoia scales, with the 39 men obtaining significantly higher scores than the 21 women. These results, while suggesting possible differences in the phenomenology of depression, also suggest that MMPI differences between Mexican-American men and women may be reflective of culturally-defined sex rules. These results, when taken within the context of Mexican-American MMPI literature, indicate that researchers should always attempt to account for "gender" when conducting cross-ethnic MMPI comparisons. The practice of grouping the MMPIs of Mexican-American men and women for comparison with other ethnic groups should be discontinued in favor of comparisons that consider the effects of gender and ethnidty.
Sex-related differences in the expression of mental illness h e . , symptom rates) have been consistently reported in the literature for Mexican-Americans (e.g., Fabrega, Rubel, & Wallace, 1967; Meadow & Stoker, 1965; Meadow, Stoker, & Zurcher, 1967; O'Donnell, Stein, Machabanski, & Cress, 1982; Stoker & Meadow, 1974; Touliatos & Lindholm, 1976; Trevino & Bruhn, 1977; Wignall & Koppin, 1967). Sex-related differences have also been reported on standard epidemiological measures of psychopathology (e.g., Golding & Karno, 1988; Roberts & Roberts, 1982; Vega, Kolody, & Warheit, 1985; Vega, Warheit, Buhl-Auth, & Meinhardt, 1984; Warheit, Vega, Auth, & Meinhardt, 1985). In both cases, differences between Mexican-American men and women have been largely attributed to various "cultural" factors including child-rearing practices, religious beliefs, family structure, value orientations, sex-role expectations, social support, and acculturative processes. Cuellar and Roberts (1984), in describing the phenomenology of mental illness among Mexican-Americans, concluded that ". . . cultural material related to family 'This study was conducted under the guidance of Drs. Cathy Gribbin and S. W. Hollingsworth at Maricopa County Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona while the first author was a graduate student at Arizona State University. Requests for reprints (and additional demographic and MMPI information on white subjects) should be sent to Dr. RDberto J. Velasquez, Department of Counselor Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-0162.
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and sex roles is frequently involved in the underlying dynamics of many disorders and is reflected in symptom manifestations" (p. 135). The primary purpose of this study was to examine to what extent Mexican-American male and female psychiatric patients, with sirmlar diagnoses, differ on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The MMPI is the most frequently used psychodiagnostic instrument with Mexican-American men and women in a variety of clinical settings including county-funded psychiatric facilities (Velasquez, 1984, 1990). Unfortunately, previous studies have primarily focused on Mexican-American men while systematically excluding Mexican-American women. Also, the few studies (e.g., Francis, 1964; Perm, 1963; Reilley & Knight, 1970) involving comparison of MMPI performance of Mexican-American men and women were conducted with "academic" samples and are not readily generalizable to psychiatric populations. Given the relatively small sample employed, and the potential for limited clinical applicability, a secondary purpose was to examine whether the pattern of MMPI differences among- Mexican-American men and women is similar to that of a demographically and diagnostically similar sample of white men and women. METHOD Subjects were 39 male and 2 1 female psychiatric patients who were admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit at Maricopa County Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Maricopa County Medical Center is a publicly-funded facility that serves an ethnically-mixed economically indigent population in the greater Phoenix area. Subjects were admitted to this facility between 1983 and 1984 and comprise approximately 30% of all Mexican-American subjects admitted to this facility during this period. The average length of stay for these subjects was approximately 12 days. The modal DSM-I11 Axis I admission diagnosis was atypical depression. Subjects with accompanying Axis I or I1 diagnoses were excluded from the study. The mean age for men was 30.2 yr. and for women 27.2 yr. All subjects had a minimum of six years of education and were proficient in English. All subjects were born in the United States and identified themselves as Chicano or Mexican-American. Subjects displayed some variability along the dimension of acculturation, with most being "Mexican-oriented" (see Cuellar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980). Upon admission to the medical center, all subjects were administered the English-language version of the MMPI (Form R) by a staff psychologist. Subjects' MMPI profiles were deemed valid by applying the following rules: F < 9 8 T a n d L < 7 0 T Data were analyzed by a series of t tests for each validity and clinical scale of the MMPI, with gender treated as the independent variable. Given the use of multiple t tests, the alpha level was set at .002.
125
MMPIS OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS
RESULTSAND DISCUSSION Mean MMPI scale scores, standard deviations, and corresponding t ratios for Mexican-American male and female inpatients are presented in Table 1. Men obtained significantly higher scores than women on the Infrequency (F) (t = 11.26, p
@ Psychological Reports 1991
MMPI DIFFERENCES AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN MALE AND FEMALE PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS ' ROBERTO J. VELASQUEZ AND WENDELL J. CALLAHAN
Sun Dtego State UniversiQ RICARDO CARRILLO
Pacific Graduate School of Psychology Summary.-The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent MexicanAmerican male and female psychiatric patients, who share similar DSM-111-R diagnoses, differ on the MMPI. Differences were found on the Infrequency, Masculinity-Femininity, and Paranoia scales, with the 39 men obtaining significantly higher scores than the 21 women. These results, while suggesting possible differences in the phenomenology of depression, also suggest that MMPI differences between Mexican-American men and women may be reflective of culturally-defined sex rules. These results, when taken within the context of Mexican-American MMPI literature, indicate that researchers should always attempt to account for "gender" when conducting cross-ethnic MMPI comparisons. The practice of grouping the MMPIs of Mexican-American men and women for comparison with other ethnic groups should be discontinued in favor of comparisons that consider the effects of gender and ethnidty.
Sex-related differences in the expression of mental illness h e . , symptom rates) have been consistently reported in the literature for Mexican-Americans (e.g., Fabrega, Rubel, & Wallace, 1967; Meadow & Stoker, 1965; Meadow, Stoker, & Zurcher, 1967; O'Donnell, Stein, Machabanski, & Cress, 1982; Stoker & Meadow, 1974; Touliatos & Lindholm, 1976; Trevino & Bruhn, 1977; Wignall & Koppin, 1967). Sex-related differences have also been reported on standard epidemiological measures of psychopathology (e.g., Golding & Karno, 1988; Roberts & Roberts, 1982; Vega, Kolody, & Warheit, 1985; Vega, Warheit, Buhl-Auth, & Meinhardt, 1984; Warheit, Vega, Auth, & Meinhardt, 1985). In both cases, differences between Mexican-American men and women have been largely attributed to various "cultural" factors including child-rearing practices, religious beliefs, family structure, value orientations, sex-role expectations, social support, and acculturative processes. Cuellar and Roberts (1984), in describing the phenomenology of mental illness among Mexican-Americans, concluded that ". . . cultural material related to family 'This study was conducted under the guidance of Drs. Cathy Gribbin and S. W. Hollingsworth at Maricopa County Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona while the first author was a graduate student at Arizona State University. Requests for reprints (and additional demographic and MMPI information on white subjects) should be sent to Dr. RDberto J. Velasquez, Department of Counselor Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-0162.
124
R. J. VELASQUEZ, ETAL.
and sex roles is frequently involved in the underlying dynamics of many disorders and is reflected in symptom manifestations" (p. 135). The primary purpose of this study was to examine to what extent Mexican-American male and female psychiatric patients, with sirmlar diagnoses, differ on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The MMPI is the most frequently used psychodiagnostic instrument with Mexican-American men and women in a variety of clinical settings including county-funded psychiatric facilities (Velasquez, 1984, 1990). Unfortunately, previous studies have primarily focused on Mexican-American men while systematically excluding Mexican-American women. Also, the few studies (e.g., Francis, 1964; Perm, 1963; Reilley & Knight, 1970) involving comparison of MMPI performance of Mexican-American men and women were conducted with "academic" samples and are not readily generalizable to psychiatric populations. Given the relatively small sample employed, and the potential for limited clinical applicability, a secondary purpose was to examine whether the pattern of MMPI differences among- Mexican-American men and women is similar to that of a demographically and diagnostically similar sample of white men and women. METHOD Subjects were 39 male and 2 1 female psychiatric patients who were admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit at Maricopa County Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Maricopa County Medical Center is a publicly-funded facility that serves an ethnically-mixed economically indigent population in the greater Phoenix area. Subjects were admitted to this facility between 1983 and 1984 and comprise approximately 30% of all Mexican-American subjects admitted to this facility during this period. The average length of stay for these subjects was approximately 12 days. The modal DSM-I11 Axis I admission diagnosis was atypical depression. Subjects with accompanying Axis I or I1 diagnoses were excluded from the study. The mean age for men was 30.2 yr. and for women 27.2 yr. All subjects had a minimum of six years of education and were proficient in English. All subjects were born in the United States and identified themselves as Chicano or Mexican-American. Subjects displayed some variability along the dimension of acculturation, with most being "Mexican-oriented" (see Cuellar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980). Upon admission to the medical center, all subjects were administered the English-language version of the MMPI (Form R) by a staff psychologist. Subjects' MMPI profiles were deemed valid by applying the following rules: F < 9 8 T a n d L < 7 0 T Data were analyzed by a series of t tests for each validity and clinical scale of the MMPI, with gender treated as the independent variable. Given the use of multiple t tests, the alpha level was set at .002.
125
MMPIS OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS
RESULTSAND DISCUSSION Mean MMPI scale scores, standard deviations, and corresponding t ratios for Mexican-American male and female inpatients are presented in Table 1. Men obtained significantly higher scores than women on the Infrequency (F) (t = 11.26, p
