Psychometric assessment of alcoholism in convicted felons.

Abstract

During regular psychological evaluation, 101 men convicted or 1 or more felonies and imprisoned in a maximum security unit in Kentucky [USA] completed the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The men included 34 Blacks and 65 Whites, had a mean age of 30, a mean educational level of 10.5 yr and a mean IQ of 94. The SMAST scores ranged from 0-13, the mean being 3.29. According to suggested cutoff scores on the SMAST, 46 inmates were nonalcoholics, 12 possible alcoholics and 43 alcoholics. The 43 alcoholics obtained a mean MMPI Depression Scale T score of 62.2, while the nonalcoholics'' mean was 55.9. In all 101 inmates, the mean score on the SMAST correlated most highly with the mean scores on 3 MMPI scales associated with neurotic manifestations: Psychasthenia, Social Introversion and Depression.