Portuguese version
Paulino, M., Moniz, M., Moura, O., Rijo, D., & Simões, M. R. (2023). O Inventário de Avaliação da Personalidade (PAI): Contributos para a avaliação psicológica em Portugal. PSIQUE, 19(2), 21-53. https://doi.org/10.26619/2183-4806.XIX.2.2
The Portuguese edition of the PAI will be published and marketed by the test publisher Hogrefe.
Original version
Morey, L.C. (1991). The Personality Assessment Inventory: Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources
Morey, L. C. (2007). Professional manual for the Personality Assessment Inventory (2nd edition). Psychological Assessment Resources.
Theoretical background
The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) is a self-administered personality inventory designed to be administered to a population over 18 years of age.
The PAI provides information on the personality, psychopathology and psychosocial environment of the person being assessed, measuring constructs relevant to diagnosis and clinical-forensic decision making. This aims at a comprehensive assessment of the main psychopathological dimensions found in the symptomatic disorders and personality disorders considered in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition (DSM-5).
The PAI is composed of 04 validity scales, 11 clinical scales, 05 treatment consideration scales and 02 interpersonal scales (Morey, 1991). In total, the questionnaire includes 344 items, and the administration time ranges from 45 to 60 minutes. There are four response options for each item, namely False, Slightly True, Quite True and Completely True. Items are summed into raw scores which are then transformed into T scores (mean of 50, standard deviation of 10). To be completed, it is essential that the person has reading skills corresponding to the literacy level of the fourth grade.
The reliability values (internal consistency, test-retest stability) found for the full scales are generally close to .80 for different settings (Morey, 2007).
In the last decade, the PAI has demonstrated its relevance in the context of justice, especially in the civil and criminal areas (e.g., Yoxall, Bahr & O'Neill, 2017).
Description
Assessment domain: Personality.
Type of instrument: Self-response questionnaire.
Number of items: 344 items, with a 4-point Likert scale (False; Slightly True; Quite True; Totally True).
Administration: Individual or collective.
Time: Variable, between 50 and 60 minutes.
Population: Adults
Dimensions
The four (04) PAI Validity Scales – Negative Impression Management (NIM), Positive Impression Management (PIM), Inconsistency (ICN) and Infrequency (INF) – were developed to assess profile distortion, which may result from sources of random (assessed with ICN and INF) or systematic (assessed with NIM and PIM) response distortions. Due to the potential information bias that may be present in a forensic context (e.g., in the assessment of psychopathy, see Paulino et al., 2022), the existence of response validity scales represents an important advantage for the interpretation of tests.
The eleven (11) Clinical Scales include the following domains: Somatic Complaints; Anxiety; Anxiety-related disorders; Depression; Mania; Paranoia; Schizophrenia; Borderline Features; Antisocial Features; Alcohol Problems; Drug Problems.
The five (05) Treatment Considerations Scales include the following dimensions: Aggression; Suicidal Ideation; Stress; Nonsupport; Treatment Rejection.
The two (02) Interpersonal Relationship Scales comprise the following domains: Dominance; Affability.
Studies
The investigations planned and being implemented within the scope of Mauro Paulino's PhD thesis Project entitled "Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI): Validation Studies in Forensic Contexts" (Supervisors: Mário R. Simões, Daniel Rijo, Octávio Moura) include several validation studies with: 1. victims of domestic violence; 2. individuals in a prison context; 3. parents with a case pending in the Family Court (e.g., Regulation of the Exercise of Parental Responsibilities; Promotion and Protection); 4. forensic professionals (e.g., Judges, Prosecutors, Lawyers).
Contacts
Mauro Paulino (mpaulino_psic@yahoo.com)
Mário R. Simões (simoesmr@fpce.uc.pt)
References
- Morey, L. C. (2007). Professional manual for the Personality Assessment Inventory (2nd edition). Psychological Assessment Resources.
- Morey, L.C. (1991). The Personality Assessment Inventory: Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.
- Paulino, M., Edens, J., Moniz, M., Moura, O., Rijo, D., & Simões, M. R. (2024). Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in forensic and correctional settings: A comprehensive review. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2024.102661
- Paulino, M., Edens, J., Moniz, M., Moura, O., Rijo, D., Morey, L., & Simões, M. R. (2024, in press). Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Personality Assessment Inventory: Normative data and reliability. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1359793
- Paulino, M., Moniz, M., Moura, O., & Simões, M. R. (2023). O Inventário de Avaliação da Personalidade (PAI): Contributos para a avaliação psicológica em Portugal [The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI): Contributions to psychological assessment in Portugal]. PSIQUE, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.26619/2183-4806.XIX.2.2
- Paulino, M., Simões, M. R., Morey, L., Penson, B., Marques, P. B. & Alho, L. (2022). Assessment of Psychopathy and Antisocial Behavior. In Paulo Barbosa Marques, Mauro Paulino, & Laura Alho (Eds.), Psychopathy and criminal behavior: Current trends and challenges (pp. 127-167). Academic Press/Elsevier.
- Paulino, M., Simões, M., Rijo, D., & Moura, O. (2018, Setembro). Inventário de Avaliação da Personalidade (PAI): Estudos de validação em contextos forenses [Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI): Validation Studies in Forensic Contexts]. Comunicação apresentada no 10.º Congresso AIDAP/AIDEP – Diagnóstico e Avaliação Psicológica, Coimbra.
- Yoxall, J., Bahr, M., & O’Neill. (2017). Faking bad in workers compensation psychological assessments: Elevation rates of negative distortion scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory in an Australian sample. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2017.1291295