A number of recent studies have used Meehl's (1995) taxometric method to determine empirically whether one should model assessment-related constructs as categories or dimensions. The taxometric method includes multiple data-analytic procedures designed to check the consistency of results. The goal is to differentiate between strong evidence of…

Psychological assessment research concerns how to describe psychological dysfunction in ways that are both valid and useful. Recent advances in assessment research hold the promise of facilitating significant improvements in description and diagnosis. One such contribution is in the classification of personality disorder symptomatology. The…

The contributions of specific scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) to the classification of 180 adolescent substance abusers into groups characterized by aspects of behavioral control were studied. Seven scales made significant contributions to the classification of substance abusers into three groups, with…

An empirically based paradigm for assessment and taxonomy of child, adolescent, and young adult behavioral and emotional problems is outlined, and the standardization procedures used to assess problems reported by different informants for large clinical samples are discussed. The application of the paradigm to new cases is considered. (SLD)