Validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory for Forensic Assessments

Abstract

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is a relatively newself-report inventory that has become popular in correctional and forensic settings. The utility of thePAI for forensic assessments was investigated in a sample of 127 adult male forensic psychiatric patients. Theoretically relevant PAI scales and subscales were used as predictors of criterion variables of violence, lifetime diagnosis of psychosis, and lifetime diagnosis of personality disorder. Moderate support for the validity of the PAI was found, in that theoretically relevant PAI (sub)scales tended to predict criterion variables, and theoretically unrelated (sub)scales tended not to. The PAI appears to be able to discriminate on major conceptual dimensions in a forensic setting. A clinical description of the sample, based on PAI scales, is also presented.