Rorschach Assessment Research Articles

Rorschach assessment of ego involvement in affect regulation: Interrater reliability of form dominance in shading and achromatic color responses.

Rorschach assessment of ego involvement in affect regulation: Interrater reliability of form dominance in shading and achromatic color responses.

Supplemental Material for Rorschach Assessment of Ego Involvement in Affect Regulation: Interrater Reliability of Form Dominance in Shading and Achromatic Color Responses

Supplemental Material for Rorschach Assessment of Ego Involvement in Affect Regulation: Interrater Reliability of Form Dominance in Shading and Achromatic Color Responses

Developments in the Rorschach Assessment of Disordered Thinking and Communication

Abstract. In its first 100 years, the Rorschach has been heralded as a valuable method for investigating disturbances in thought organization and reasoning. It has survived periods of intense scrutiny and criticism, as contemporary researchers continued to demonstrate the empirical validity of the Rorschach as a measure of disordered thinking ( Mihura et al., 2013 ). It is fitting to mark the centenary of Rorschach’s “experiment” by summarizing contemporary contributions of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) and reviewing the empirical and conceptual bases for using the inkblots to assess disordered thinking and communication.

A Commentary on “The Rorschach and Violent Crime” (de Ruiter, 2021)

A Commentary on “The Rorschach and Violent Crime” (de Ruiter, 2021)

A Commentary on “Developments in the Rorschach Assessment of Disordered Thinking and Communication” (Kleiger & Mihura, 2021)

A Commentary on “Developments in the Rorschach Assessment of Disordered Thinking and Communication” (Kleiger & Mihura, 2021)

Rorschach Assessment of Complex Trauma in Youth

Abstract. A history of complex trauma or exposure to multiple traumatic events of an interpersonal nature, such as abuse, neglect, and/or major attachment disruptions, is unfortunately common in youth referred for psychological assessment. The way these adolescents approach the Rorschach task and thematic contents they provide often reflect how such experiences have deeply affected their personality development. This article proposes a shift in perspective in the interpretation of protocols of adolescents who suffered complex trauma with reference to two aspects: (a) the diagnostic relevance of avoidant or emotionally constricted Rorschach protocols that may otherwise appear of little use, and (b) the importance of danger-related thematic contents reflecting the youth’s sense of threat, harm, and vulnerability. Regarding this last aspect, the article reintroduces the Preoccupation with Danger Index ( DI). Two cases are presented to illustrate the approach.

Rorschach Assessment in Suicide Survivors: Focus on Suicidal Ideation.

Background: The study of Suicidal ideation (SI) in people bereaved through suicide (Suicide Survivors, SSs) could be hampered by the person's willingness to admit it, or by their limited awareness of it. Our main hypothesis is that SI is common in these people, especially if they are parents or children of the victim. For its potential in shedding light on specific unconscious processes, Rorschach test was chosen for our investigation, for the first time in SSs literature. Rorschach suicide ideation and selected variables were further analyzed to better delineate their psychological profile.Method: Rorschach according to Exner's Comprehensive System was administered to 21 people bereaved through suicide presenting as outpatients at SOPROXI Project Service—Padova Mental Health Center- and 23 healthy controls. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was routinely administered to SSs and considered in the study.Results: T-tests showed significantly higher mean SI score (S-Con) as it emerged from the Rorschach test S-Con scores in SSs compared to control participants. SI found only weak correlation with the BDI item in which SSs can explicitly state the desire for their death. Within-group analysis revealed higher S-Con mean scores in bereaved children and parents of the victim compared to other kind of kinships. Morbid content (MOR) has been fund as the most characterizing variable in SSs' S-Con in terms of effect size, followed by a low number of responses with an ordinary form (X +%). Human movements (M), Special Scores related to thought slippage (ALOG, FABCOM2, INCOM2, and CONTAM) and poor human representations (PHR) have been shown to be more significantly present in SSs compared controls.Discussion: Psychodynamic interpretations of our results are provided. Clinical practice should consider Rorschach as one of eligible tools of investigation on this field.

Rorschach Assessment of Two Distinctive Personality States of a Person With Dissociative Identity Disorder

ABSTRACTThis case study used test data from a patient with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) to illustrate how two main personality states of the patient (“Ann” and “Ben”) seemed to function. The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems–Circumplex (IIP–64; Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 2000), administered to Ann and Ben in separate settings, exposed two diverse R–PAS and IIP–64 profiles. Ann's R–PAS profile suggested an intellectualized style of information processing with few indications of psychological problems. Ben's profile indicated severe perceptual, cognitive, and interpersonal difficulties combined with suspicion and anxiety. Ann's IIP–64 profile suggested minor interpersonal problems, whereas Ben's indicated serious relational difficulties. The findings were discussed in relation to the theory of trauma-related structural dissociation of the personality (van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006), which implies an enduring split in the organization of the personality with more or less separate entities with their own sense of self, perception of the world, and ways of organizing emotional, cognitive, and social functions. The DID personality structure is seen as a defense strategy and as a pathway in the personality development producing serious psychological pain and symptoms.

Essentials of Rorschach Assessment

Essentials of Rorschach AssessmentComprehensive System and R-PASVera CampoVera CampoSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:November 10, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1192-5604/a000093PDFView Full Text ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInReddit SectionsMoreJessica R. Gurley. (2017). Essentials of Rorschach Assessment: Comprehensive System and R-PAS. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN (softcover) 978-1-119-06075-8, £42.50/€45.50 ISBN (e-pub) 978-1-119-06078-9, £38.99/€40.99FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 38Issue 2November 2017ISSN: 1192-5604eISSN: 2151-206X Published onlineNovember 10, 2017 InformationRorschachiana (2017), 38, pp. 160-162 https://doi.org/10.1027/1192-5604/a000093.© 2017Hogrefe PublishingPDF download

Ego Psychoanalytic Rorschach Interpretation

Abstract. This article concerns the utility of ego psychoanalytic perspectives in Rorschach interpretation. Psychoanalytic ego psychology focuses on how people cope with events in their lives and how effectively they can meet challenges to their sense of well-being. The way people deal with experienced distress constitutes their defensive style and determines to a large extent what kind of person they are. Adequate defenses against anxiety promote comfortable and productive adjustment, whereas ineffective defenses typically cause adjustment difficulties and susceptibility to psychological disorders. In Rorschach assessment, the nature and effectiveness of a person’s defensive style can often be identified with a sequence analysis that integrates the structural, thematic, and behavioral features in the protocol. In particular, the sequential quality of responses, especially preceding and following instances of cognitive slippage, can help identify causes of upsetting concerns, defensive efforts to alleviating these concerns, and the adequacy of these defensive efforts in restoring equanimity. This interpretive process is illustrated with attention to implications for differential diagnosis and treatment planning in the Rorschach protocol of a 20-year-old suicidal woman.

Rorschach Comprehensive System Data for a Sample of 478 Iranian Children at Four Ages

This article contributes to the international reference data for the Rorschach Comprehensive System by reporting the responses of 478 nonpatient Iranian children at the 4 age levels of 5 to 7, 8 to 10, 11 to 13, and 14 to 16. Interrater reliability is reported, and descriptive statistics are presented for each age level. In common with previous cross-national samples of young people, the Iranian Rorschach findings mirror several expected developmental changes, which indicates their construct validity, and show a low frequency of elevated PTI and DEPI, which limits the likelihood of Rorschach assessment suggesting serious cognitive or affective disorder when neither is present.

Rorschach assessment of childhood sexual abuse severity, borderline pathology, and their interaction: An examination of criterion validity.

Rorschach assessment of childhood sexual abuse severity, borderline pathology, and their interaction: An examination of criterion validity.

Rorschach Assessment of Traumatized Refugees: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Fifty-one multitraumatized mental health patients with refugee backgrounds completed the Rorschach (Meyer & Viglione, 2008), Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, and Hopkins Symptom Checklist–25 (Mollica, McDonald, Massagli, & Silove, 2004), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL Group, 1998) before the start of treatment. The purpose was to gain more in-depth knowledge of an understudied patient group and to provide a prospective basis for later analyses of treatment outcome. Factor analysis of trauma-related Rorschach variables gave 2 components explaining 60% of the variance; the first was interpreted as trauma-related flooding versus constriction and the second as adequate versus impaired reality testing. Component 1 correlated positively with self-reported reexperiencing symptoms of posttraumatic stress (r = .32, p < .05). Component 2 correlated positively with self-reported quality of life in the physical, psychological, and social relationships domains (r = .34, .32, and .35, p < .05), and negatively with anxiety (r = –.33, p < .05). Each component also correlated significantly with resources like work experience, education, and language skills.

Rorschach assessment of personality functioning in patients with polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy.

Objective: To date no studies have investigated the personality functioning underlying patients diagnosed with polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy (PLOSL) using the performance-based Rorschach test.Methods: We scored and interpreted the Rorschach protocols of eight carefully diagnosed PLOSL patients according to Exner's Comprehensive System. The structural variables in the Rorschach are organised around the seven dimensions of personality functioning that they assess: coping style and resources, organising information, perceiving events, forming concepts and ideas, handling of emotions, self-perception and interpersonal perception.Results: As a group PLOSL patients had many personality liabilities when contrasted with typical avoidant non-patient adults. A majority of patients showed an avoidant coping style (Lambda &gt; 0.99), low productivity and poor verbal output in the low number of responses and few Blends. Also, they showed limited available resources to cope with problem-solving test. Problems in organising information efficiently, and perceiving events realistically as well as signs of disturbed thinking and concept formation were observed in many patients. Handling of emotions was characterised by avoidance of emotional stimuli but at the same time poor affect modulation. Capacities to view themselves and others were thoroughly limited.Conclusions: PLOSL tends to have repercussions throughout the personality functioning. In line with clinical findings and later neuroradiological and neuropathological examinations the Rorschach revealed personality features typical for frontal type of dementia.

Introduction to Practice Matters Special Section on the Rorschach

It is with great pleasure that I introduce the Psychological Injury and the Law (PIL) Special Section on the Rorschach and especially the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011). Numerous surveys have indicated that the Rorschach is one of the most widely used psychological tests in clinical and forensic practice (Archer, BuffingtonVollum, Stredny, & Handel, 2006; Camara, Nathan, & Puente, 2000; Norcross & Karpiak, 2012), including in psychological injury evaluations (Boccaccini & Brodsky, 1999). While there have been numerous Rorschach systems (Exner, 1969), it is widely understood that, until recently, the Exner Comprehensive System (CS, Exner, 2003) was the only system with sufficient reliability and validity to be used in forensic settings (see Gacono, Evans, & Viglione, 2008). Yet, in recent years, a small group of critics (e.g., Lilienfeld, Wood, & Garb, 2000) have raised questions about the validity of the Rorschach and have gone as far as taking the unprecedented step of calling for a “moratorium” on its use in clinical and forensic practice (Garb, 1999). These harsh critiques rest on a general misunderstanding of clinical and forensic practice and, not infrequently, a misrepresentation of the empirical literature (see Gacono & Evans, 2008 for a comprehensive treatment of the scientific, legal, and clinical foundations of the Rorschach in forensic practice and Evans (2008) on the admissibility of the CS Rorschach). A positive outcome of this often-contentious debate has been an increase in research on the Rorschach, the best of which is well represented in the articles in this Special Section and the development of the R-PAS. The Special Section opens with Joni Mihura’s discussion of the role of the Rorschach in comprehensive multi-method psychological assessment, the core of good forensic practice. Her analysis cogently argues for the incremental validity of performance-based measures over and above self-report measures such as the MMPI. Her argument is significantly advanced by her rather modest reference to her groundbreaking metaanalysis of main Rorschach variables (Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, & Bombel, 2012), which forms the empirical backbone of the R-PAS. In this author’s opinion, the meta-analysis by Mihura et al. (2012) is the most important empirical advance in Rorschach research since Exner’s original publication of the CS (Exner, 1974). Next up is Gregory Meyer and Josh Eblin’s systematic and thorough overview of the R-PAS, the newest Rorschach system and the only system other than the CS with a comprehensive and well-researched empirical base. This introduction to the R-PAS provides a summary of the evolution and scientific foundation of this exciting development in Rorschach assessment. The authors discuss the progress of the R-PAS beyond the CS and offer the R-PAS as the next generation, empirically supported Rorschach assessment. Their arguments are compelling and seasoned forensic psychologists should carefully consider the R-PAS for adoption based on empirical sturdiness. With the scientific foundation of the R-PAS now well covered, what follows is Robert Erard’s carefully reasoned article on the use of R-PAS for forensic consultation and expert testimony in psychological injury cases. Erard F. B. Evans Clinical & Forensic Psychologist, Asheville, NC, USA

The Brave New World of Forensic Rorschach Assessment: Comments on the Rorschach Special Section

The Brave New World of Forensic Rorschach Assessment: Comments on the Rorschach Special Section

Rorschach Assessment of Leadership Traits in College Student Leaders

The Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) may possess distinct advantages as a tool for identifying leaders but current research is inadequate to support its validity in organizational contexts. To strengthen this empirical foundation, the present study used confidence interval analyses to compare data for 30 college student leaders to samples of nonpatients and college students on the following CS scales: emotionally based resources (SumC), introspective tendencies (FD), capacity for collaboration (COP), stimulus integration (DQ+), and perceptual accuracy (X+%). Results indicated that student leaders produced higher scores on SumC, COP, and FD but not DQ+ or X+%. The implications of these findings are discussed and guidelines for advancing research in this area are proposed.

Rorschach Assessment of Parenting Capacity

A case example of a mother who neglected her children is presented using two administrations of the Rorschach following the Comprehensive system, one before and one after treatment. Before treatment, the mother presented with limited coping skills as measured by the Coping Deficit Index and a very strong tendency to avoid complexity and deny ambiguity as measured by the Rorschach variable, Lambda. The case example raises some questions about the significance of these two Rorschach variables in parents who neglect their children. Preliminary findings for 52 such parents from the author’s case files are given.

Rorschach assessment of reality testing, affect and object representation of borderline pathology: A comparison of clinical samples

This study examines the personality functioning of outpatients diagnosed with borderline pathology (BP) compared to a nonborderline pathology Axis I clinical control group (NonBP). Interrater reliability for all variables was in the good or excellent range. Significant differences were found examining Rorschach variables assessing dysphoric affect and affect regulation/experiencing with BP when compared to the Axis I group. Additionally, individuals with BP had more malevolent object representations than individuals with only Axis I disorders. The clinical implications of these findings with regard to borderline pathology are discussed.

A psychodynamic description of a sample of gamblers through Rorschach assessment and correlation with Alexithymia dimension

Since November 2005 our Institute has been developing a group therapy program for pathological gamblers, alternating a counselling/rehabilitation and a group psychotherapy session each week. For a better understanding of psychodynamic aspects of our patients we have started to assess them through Rorschach test according to Klopfer signing and with TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Taylor et al., 1990). Preliminary results regarding ten patients have shown the following features: a discrepancy between high ambition and real intellectual skills; a psychic life condition dominated by immature resources and impulses; an inappropriate self-control which is performed through emotional distance and experiences of deep anguish. These features can be indicative of a difficulty in expression of emotions, according to alexithymia construct. Most of the patients were found to have significantly higher levels of alexithymia at Tas-20. This outcome is in accordance with previous works on the topic.Our preliminary observations suggest to focus group therapy not only on communication contents, but also on the communication style of the patient. These results also suggest that could be important to help patient to recognize and discriminate emotional conditions to prevent relapses due to out of control or repressed emotions.[1]. Parker J.D., Wood L.M., Bond B.J., Shaughnessy P. (2005) Alexithymia in young adulthood: a risk factor for pathological gambling. Psychother. Psychosom. 74(1): 51-5.