Psychology Testing



Psychology Testing

Mental Status Exam

Metal Status Examination (MSE)

Test Purpose: To gain a complete and detailed cross-sectional explanation of the mental state of patient, which, when joined with the historical and biographical data of the psychiatric history, allows the clinician to build a correct and precise formulation and diagnosis that are needed for planning the coherent treatment.

Uses, particularly in a Forensic setting: Generally it is used by treating clinicians to communicate data in the medical record and is frequently used in a forensic mental health report for conveying the subject's mental state at the time of exam (Yang & Smith, 2009). As far as forensic setting is concerned, MSE can be used for providing a recommendation to the Court that a person meets the legal criteria for involuntary psychiatric hospitalization or the more specialized forms of evaluation (such as a neuropsychological or psychiatric evaluation) would be indicated.

Test Development and History (Any Revisions Made): MSE was developed based on the approach to psychiatrist called descriptive psychopathology or descriptive phenomenology that was established from the work of psychiatrist and philosopher known as Karl Jasper.

Normative Information and Test Statistics: Comprehensive normative data (N = 18,056) on the MMSE (Crum et al. 1993) gathered through the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study provide age- and education-related median, upper quartile, and lower quartile scores that can be used to identify abnormal performance.

Applicable Populations: Most commonly given to elderly people and to other patients being evaluated for dementia. Otherwise applicable to all.

Validity and Reliability: Obtained Cronbach's alphas of 0.82 and 0.84 in elderly patients admitted to a medical service (N = 372) and elderly nursing home residents (N = 34), respectively. The joint reliability of the MSE was found to be 0.827 in a study of patients with Dementia (N = 19), 0.95 in a study of patients with various neurological disorders (N = 15), and 0.84-0.99 in two studies with elderly residents of nursing homes (N = 35 and 70). Intra-class correlation coefficients ranging from 0.69 to 0.78 were obtained in another study of elderly nursing home residents (N = 48). Performance on the MSE has been shown to be significantly correlated with a variety of other tests that measure intelligence, memory, and other aspects of cognitive functioning in a wide variety of populations.

Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI)

Test Purpose: To identify disorders of substance use with a high level of validity regardless of respondent enthusiasm or integrity (Feldstein & Miller, 2007).

Uses, Particularly in a Forensic setting: SASSI is used in evaluating and planning treatment for incarcerated juveniles. It can be used in juvenile correctional settings when there is a requirement for precise and competent evaluation of substance abuse, which may allow for resource allocation economically and identify any requirement of treatment (Stein et al, 2005).

Test Development and History (Any Revisions Made): The SASSI test was developed by Dr. Glenn A. Miller as a screening questionnaire to identify people with a high possibility of having substance dependence ...