Differentiating under- and overcontrolled behavior of adolescent outpatients with the High School Personality Questionnaire.

Abstract

This study evaluated whether the High School Personality Questionnaire could reliably distinguish between groups of adolescents with under- and overcontrolled behavior as identified by DSM-III diagnoses. Clients for outpatient psychotherapy from a mental health agency completed these questionnaires at intake and were later assigned DSM-III diagnoses by their therapists without reference to the questionnaires. As predicted, subscales of the questionnaire reliably discriminated diagnostic groups; however, mean differences for the discriminating variables were small. While the High School Personality Questionnaire has limited utility in the diagnostic process with adolescents, it did provide information concerning potential strengths or behavioral assets.