Patterns of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) validity scale elevation across veterans seen in a Veterans Affairs (VA) assessment clinic: The impact of compensation status.

The purpose of this investigation is to provide descriptive information on veteran response styles for compensation and pension (C&P) evaluations Veterans Affairs (VA) referral types using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), which has well-supported embedded validity scales capturing invalid response styles. The total sample included 356 veterans from a single VA psychological testing clinic who were administered the MMPI-2-RF during a broader psychological evaluation, with 201 veterans undergoing C&P evaluations. This study examines frequencies of protocol invalidity based on the MMPI-2-RF's validity scales and provides comprehensive descriptive findings on validity scale scores across appointment types (i.

Amoebic encephalitis within Australia.

Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis is a rare but likely under-recognised form of subacute, usually fatal, encephalitis. We present an illustrative case report and literature review of Australian cases, summarising clinical features, diagnostic methods, treatment and outcomes.

Development and initial validation of the Scale of Scales (SOS) overreporting scores for the MMPI family of instruments.

Overreporting is a common problem that complicates psychological evaluations. A challenge facing the effective detection of overreporting is that many of the identified strategies (e.g.

Cross validation of the response bias scale and the response bias scale-19 in active-duty personnel: use on the MMPI-2-RF and MMPI-3.

The Response Bias Scale (RBS) is the central measure of cognitive over-reporting in the MMPI-family of instruments. Relative to other clinical populations, the research evaluating the detection of over-reporting is more limited in Veteran and Active-Duty personnel, which has produced some psychometric variability across studies. Some have suggested that the original scale construction methods resulted in items which negatively impact classification accuracy and in response crafted an abbreviated version of the RBS (RBS-19; Ratcliffe et al.

Assessment of PTSD and Trauma Symptoms With the MMPI-3 in College Students: Validity and Incremental Utility of the Anxiety Related Experiences (ARX) Scale.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is heterogeneous in nature, which complicates diagnostic efforts and makes accurate assessment tools critical. The MMPI family of instruments are widely used broadband measures of psychopathology, including trauma symptomology. The MMPI-3's Anxiety Related Experiences scale (ARX) is an expansion of the MMPI-2-RF Anxiety (AXY) scale which has historically represented the MMPI family's best measure of trauma symptoms.

Evaluation of telehealth administration of MMPI symptom validity scales.

Introduction: Telehealth assessment (TA) is a quickly emerging practice, offered with increasing frequency across many different clinical contexts. TA is also well-received by most patients, and there are numerous guidelines and training opportunities which can support effective telehealth practice. Although there are extensive recommended practices, these guidelines have rarely been evaluated empirically, particularly on personality measures.

Nocardia species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility within Australia.

Background: Nocardia is a ubiquitous saprophyte capable of causing human disease. Disease is primarily respiratory or cutaneous, usually acquired via inhalation or inoculation. Under the influence of environmental and host factors, Nocardia incidence and species distribution demonstrate geographical variation.

Contrasting MMPI-3 validity scale effectiveness differences across in-person and telehealth administration procedures.

Psychological assessment underwent substantive challenges and changes when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and these changes are likely to endure given the rapid growth of telehealth clinical practice and assessment research using virtual procedures. COVID-19-related changes to assessment practices have impacted accordingly how we study overreporting scale functioning, including the modality through which we administer measures. No available research provides direct comparisons of overreporting scale effectiveness within simulation research across in-person and telehealth modalities, despite early support for novel instruments relying on remote procedures within the historic context of the pandemic.

Screening Utility of the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 for Depression in College Students: Relationships with Substantive Scales of the MMPI-3.

We investigated the validity and screening effectiveness of the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 scores in 229 college students in a cross-sectional design. PHQ associations with Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 internalizing scales suggest PHQ scores are effective screening tools for college students and may aid in effective triage and service needs.

Refractory Helicobacter pylori infection in Australia: updated multicentre antimicrobial resistance.

Background And Aim: Helicobacter pylori infection is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide and eradication rates are falling globally because of increasing antimicrobial resistance. However, there is a paucity of local data to guide the choice of eradication therapy in Australia. This study aimed to evaluate current Australian rates of H.

Cross validation of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Cognitive Bias Scale of Scales (CB-SOS) over-reporting indicators in a military sample.

Following the development of the Cognitive Bias Scale (CBS), three other cognitive over-reporting indicators were created. This study cross-validates these new Cognitive Bias Scale of Scales (CB-SOS) measurements in a military sample and contrasts their performance to the CBS. We analyzed data from 288 active-duty soldiers who underwent neuropsychological evaluation.

FeBRILe3: Safety Evaluation of Febrile Infant Guidelines Through Prospective Bayesian Monitoring.

Objectives: Despite evidence supporting earlier discharge of well-appearing febrile infants at low risk of serious bacterial infection (SBI), admissions for ≥48 hours remain common. Prospective safety monitoring may support broader guideline implementation.

Methods: A sequential Bayesian safety monitoring framework was used to evaluate a new hospital guideline recommending early discharge of low-risk infants.

Investigating the Validity of the MMPI-3 Eating Concerns (EAT) scale across Men and Women in a University Sample.

Disordered eating is a major health epidemic that occurs at disproportionate rates among young adults and for which gender plays a major role in symptom presentation. Broadband psychological instruments have historically not included disordered eating as a core scale construct. The recent release of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) offers an opportunity to address this shortcoming through the newly developed Eating Concerns Scale (EAT) for which the existing literature is promising but limited.

Omadacycline therapy for Mycobacterium abscessus species infections.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance and therapy-related adverse effects make Mycobacterium abscessus treatment challenging. Omadacycline is a novel, bioavailable aminomethylcycline with favourable in vitro activity against M. abscessus.

Evaluating Personality Assessment Inventory Response Patterns in Active-Duty Personnel With Head Injury Using a Latent Class Approach.

Objective: Previous research has found that among those with brain injury, individuals have a variety of different potential symptom sets, which will be seen on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). The number of different groups and what they measure have varied depending on the study.

Method: In active-duty personnel with a remote history of mild traumatic brain injury (n = 384) who were evaluated at a neuropsychology clinic, we used a retrospective database to examine if there are different groups of individuals who have distinct sets of symptoms as measured on the PAI.

Comparison of the Memory Complaints Inventory and the PAI Cognitive Bias Scale in a Military Sample.

Objective: The Memory Complaints Inventory (MCI) is a stand-alone memory-based symptom validity test (SVT). The measure is promising and has been used with relative frequency, but requires additional research (Armistead-Jehle & Shura, 2022). The current study sought to expand the empirical base of the MCI by comparing it to the Cognitive Bias Scale, a new symptom validity measure assessing cognitive over reporting on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI).

Validation of the personality assessment inventory (PAI) cognitive bias (CBS) and cognitive bias scale of scales (CB-SOS) in a post-deployment veteran sample.

The present study evaluated the function of four cognitive, symptom validity scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), the Cognitive Bias Scale (CBS) and the Cognitive Bias Scale of Scales (CB-SOS) 1, 2, and 3 in a sample of Veterans who volunteered for a study of neurocognitive functioning. 371 Veterans (88.1% male, 66.

Urinary tract infections in children: building a causal model-based decision support tool for diagnosis with domain knowledge and prospective data.

Background: Diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children in the emergency department (ED) is challenging due to the variable clinical presentations and difficulties in obtaining a urine sample free from contamination. Clinicians need to weigh a range of observations to make timely diagnostic and management decisions, a difficult task to achieve without support due to the complex interactions among relevant factors. Directed acyclic graphs (DAG) and causal Bayesian networks (BN) offer a way to explicitly outline the underlying disease, contamination and diagnostic processes, and to further make quantitative inference on the event of interest thus serving as a tool for decision support.

Predicting Parental Mental Health During COVID-19: Economic Pressure, COVID-19 Stress, and Coping Strategies.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, understanding connections between economic pressures and mental health experiences is critical in comprehending how stressful global events can affect families. Although economic pressures and stress can negatively impact mental health, approach coping strategies may provide reductions in negative mental health experiences for parents compared to avoidant coping strategies. Despite recent work showing that stress resulting from the pandemic can have negative implications for the mental health of parents with young children, there is little known about the mental health of parents with adolescents.

Antifungal use via outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy.

Background: Antifungal administration via outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is infrequent. As patients with invasive fungal infections (IFIs) receiving OPAT are at high risk of readmissions, careful, risk-based patient selection and monitoring is important.

Objectives: To describe our experience managing IFIs via OPAT, including assessment of risk factors associated with unplanned readmissions.

Doctoral students' intention to use assessments in their career: The incremental role of self-reported competence.

Objective: Attaining competence in assessment is a necessary step in graduate training and has been defined to include multiple domains of training relevant to this attainment. While important to ensure trainees meet these standards of training, it is critical to understand how and if competence shapes a trainees' professional identity, therein promoting lifelong competency.

Methods: The current study assessed currently enrolled graduate trainees' knowledge and perception of their capabilities related to assessment to determine if self-reported and performance-based competence would incrementally predict their intention to use assessment in their future above basic training characteristics and intended career interests.