Personality Based Assessment Scenario

Posted by Winnie Melda on October 25th, 2018

Personality Based Assessment

            From the case scenario presented, the personality assessment instrument used is the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). The standard use of the personality assessment is the use of a personality inventory in which it uses the big five personality traits. The instrument has 240 items in total for the assessment and focuses on the personality traits; Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. The test was designed for use with adult men and women but later adopted for the younger ages (Costa & McCrae, 2008).

            By the scenario, the clinical evaluation seeks to assess the client’s current mental well-being and the extent of her need for clinical intervention. The areas of assessment for the scenario are Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), Mental Status Examination, Review of Prior Psychological Assessment, Review of Prior Medical Records, and the Clinical Review. The test-retest reliability of the NEO PI-R assessment tool has been found to be satisfactory. For the scenario presented, the patient has signs of major depression and psychotic features. The assessment tool checks on Neuroticism, which has the factors like anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, and vulnerability to stress. As such it is a reliable method of assessment for the mental status examination in the clinical settings.

            The instrument has trusted validity in performing personality-based assessments. Several studies have evaluated the criterion validity for NEO and fond it to be a valid tool for the assessments. A previous study found that Neuroticism has a relationship to the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout and also has a positive relationship to anxiety (Noyan & Cohen, 2013).

            The cultural considerations inherent to the personality assessment instrument regard its application to different countries and cultures in which it has evidence of validity. The factors like neuroticism, openness, and consciousness dimensions have a cross-cultural validity. The factors of extraversion and agreeableness dimensions have a high sensitivity to the cultural context. The assessment instrument tool is appropriate for use with the people who do not speak English as their first language. Thus, the personality assessment method used in the scenario caters for the concerns that may arise by cross-cultural application. The main considerations in the culture are language and the mode of administration of the assessment tool, which well catered for in the tool. The description of the patient presented in the scenario does not have the details of the cultural background. Hence, the cultural background may not be a considerate factor in the choice of using the personality assessment tool.

            There are some potential ethical issues that may arise from the use of the personality assessment in the given scenario. NEO assessment tool does not have a control for the social desirability bias. The test developers assume that the participants give honest responses, especially where they can benefit from the positive portrayal (Kelly, 2014). It is an ethical concern since the personality assessment tool fails to control dishonesty and social desirability. Such tests ought to provide the accurate representation of a patient and not the preferred characteristics of an individual. In the scenario, the test for Jane’s self-concept, reaction to stress, and emotional control could be difficult to have a true outcome due to the desire to have better results. The test has the assumption that the respondent gives honest responses which could affect the results.

            In spite of some of the flaws identified in the assessment tool, it is reliable for use in the scenario presented to reveal the depressive condition of the patient. Other possible instruments to use is a shortened version of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to focus on the specific traits of interest to the patient other than all the factors captured in the assessment 

References

 Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (2008). The revised neo personality inventory (neo-pi-r) The           SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment, 2, 179-198

Kelly, W. E. (2014). Correlates of the Ausburg Multidimensional Personality Instrument (AMPI)             Among College Students: The Big Five, Vocational Interests, Approach to the Academic Environment, and Creativity. Journal Of Instructional Psychology, 41(1-4), 10-15.

Noyan, I. C., & Cohen, J. B. (2013). Residual stress: measurement by diffraction and        interpretation. Springer

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in research paper company if you need a similar paper you can place your order for pre written essays.