Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI): Brief History and Test Description

Personality Assessment Inventory
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Abstract
Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is an assessment tool used by psychologists to determine the examine psychopathological disorder, providing information for clinical diagnosis, psychopathology, and treatment planning. The test has 22 scales that are not overlapping, and promotes discriminant validity. The design of the test makes it easy to read and understand, and can be applied with on people with lower reading ability. In this review, we will review the history of the test, undertake a detailed description, its technical evaluation, practical evaluation, and a summary. The analysis also includes an assessment of strengths and weaknesses and recommendations.
Key words: test, psychopathology, test, PAI, personality assessment inventory
General Information
Title: Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
Author: Leslie C. Morey
Format: Paper and pen, Professional reporting service, and Online administration
Pricing: Books, manuals, equipment, and comprehensive kit range between $7 and $448
A Brief History
PAI test for assessing the personality of the respondent. It examines psychopathological syndromes, providing relevant information for clinical diagnosis, psychopathology screening, and treatment planning. The PAI tests is a medical assessment for grown-ups and help in assessing personality. The first personality assessment tests were created in the 1920s. They were meant to ease the process of recruitment in the armed forces. The personality assessment inventory was invented in 1990 by Leslie Morey. Over the years, this has been viewed as one of the most significant personality assessment tests designed (Morey, 2014). The test is currently used by psychologists to appraise adults' personalities and is regarded to cover lots of constructs connected to many human mental disorders. Although it is considered the best test, the PAI research and analysis have positive and negative points.
Test Description
Personality assessment measures personal characteristics. The evaluation helps gather information to advance psychological theory and research and enhance the development of evidence-based therapies. These tests can help evaluate how well an individual will perform in a given entity based on their interpersonal skills, behavior traits, and the inspiration or motivation that drives them. Personality tests can be used in determining if you are a good fit for a particular organization and its working environment. The Personality Assessment Inventory test has multiple scales whose purpose is to assess the subjects differently. For this reason, different exercises are involved, and each has a varying contextual application. The tests utilize other assessment instruments in the form of self-reporting questionnaires. They also comprise rating scales, which often feature a series of multiple-choice questions. These elements are what essentially makes personality inventory tests to be categorized as subjective tests (Morey, 2014).
Today, PAI tests have become immensely popular across the globe. As a result, a broad range of questionnaires and personality scales have been developed. Its ease of construction and administration makes this test a preference for many. The personality industry in the USA is worth around 6 billion dollars per year. These assessments are applied in different contexts such as clinical psychology, employment testing, individual and relationship, customer relationship management, career counseling, and school psychology.
Test Structure
The rating scale is a versatile assessment technique that presents users with an item and asks them to choose from several options. The instrument used in the PAI tests comprises 344 items. These include 22 non-overlapping full scales that evaluate broad-based assessments of mental disorders. Four validity scales are also included. Others are; five treatment scales, four validity scales, eleven clinical scales, and 2-interpersonal scales. In order to cover the broad range of clinical constructs and facilitate interpretation, ten scales with conceptually derived subscales are also included. All these items enable the researchers to assess various psychopathology measurements in grown-ups aged 18 and above. The instrument is easy to read. Therefore, it depends on the competence and skills of the respondent (Parker, Mulay, & Gottfried, 2020). The instrument's overall purpose is to help employers assess problems involving job applicants' mental health, especially the positions that require persons with interpersonal skills and group performances of high standards.
Administration
The tool is main administered by psychologists, and assist in addressing clinical disorders. It is easy to administers to clients of a lower reading level, as low as 4th grade. Rather than testing specific skills or general knowledge, personality inventories ask people about themselves. The minimum amount of time needed to finish the test is about 50 to 60 minutes. To ensure that regular follow-up inquiries are achieved, the Personality Assessment Inventory test contains around 27 items meant for the purpose. For this particular PAI test, the administration time may be up to 40 minutes shorter than that of similar instruments (Weiner & Greene, 2017). Personality Assessment Inventory test results are proposed to establish the strengths and weaknesses and the mental state of the patient. Psychologists make details on their findings in all the fields tested, and from them, they can analyze and make conclusions on the results. Recently, the Personality Assessment Inventory test found an application in the diagnosis, assessment, and discrimination of different psychopathological disorders that includes PTSD (Murphy, 2020).
Test Scoring
The scoring is based on a scale created to measure the overall approach to the test. The type of scoring or ranking includes faking, good or bad, exaggeration, defensiveness, carelessness, or random responding. There are four-point main validity scales of scoring on this test. These scales are the defensiveness index, Cashel discriminant function, malingering index, and Rogers discriminant function. The clinical scales for this test are aimed to assess psychopathology using different diagnostic categories. These include Somatic concerns, anxiety, anxiety-related disorders, depression, mania, paranoia, schizophrenia, borderline features, antisocial features, alcohol problems, and drug problems.
Technical Evaluation
Studies highlight that the correct assessment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)should consider different critical dimensions such as broad-based symptoms, several scales of the disorder, traumatic events, and personality scales. Measurements should include the correct administration of scaled diagnostic interviews. Here, all likelihoods direct to applying the Personality Assessment Inventory as the most effective instrument that can assess the initially mentioned measures (Whiteside, Clinton, Diamonti, Stroemel, White, Zimberoff, & Waters, 2010). Calhoun and others tested 128 women in a study to examine the PAI's correctness in diagnosing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in women (Morey, 2014).
The study uses Receiver Operating Curves in testing the effectiveness of the Personal Assessment Inventory LOGIT function in diagnosing PTSD. Researchers found out from their findings that the PAI use in diagnosing PTSD is practical and useful. Additionally, studies show the specificity and the sensitivity of the PAI in criticizing between cases of the rest of the community from the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder 1.0 and 0.83, respectively (Blais, Baity, & Hopwood, 2011).
In another study meant to investigate different typ...