An Examination of PAI Clinical Descriptors and Correlates in an Outpatient Sample: Tailoring of Interpretive Statements

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey 1991 , 2007 ) was designed to evaluate patterns of psychopathology utilizing validity, clinical, treatment, and interpersonal scales. Its psychometric strengths include easily read items, gradations of responses, and extensive validation. The primary focus of the current study is to examine item-level clinical correlates to inform interpretation. For external validity, the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ; Zimmerman 2002 ) was utilized by examining individual items and subscales. The investigation used archival data from 192 outpatients. The most specific and detailed clinical correlates were found for PAI mood disorder scales. Several other clinical scales, such as Schizophrenia (SCZ), had comparatively few clinical correlates. The current findings underscore the need to further validate PAI external correlates in order to augment PAI statements.