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Special alcoholism scales have teen developed using the MMPI in an attempt to achieve a more accurate identification of alcoholics than is possible with the standard MMPI scales . One such MMPI -derived alcoholism scale is the 49 -item MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC : MacAndrew , 1965 ) . Research has consistently supported the efficacy of the MAC in a variety of settings . However , the influence of moderator variables like age , sex , and race on the MAC have yet to receive sufficient empirical investigation . This study was conducted in order to determine the effect of one of these moderator variables (i .e . , race ) on the MAC performance of alcoholic and nonalcoholic inpatients .
Subjects for this study were 73 (27 black , 46 white ) male alcoholic inpatients and 73 (27 black , 46 white ) male nonalcoholic psychiatric inpatients . Two independent variables , race (black , white ) and abuse status (alcoholic , nonalcoholic ) were investigated by means of a 2X2 factorial design in order to determine their effect on the dependent measure , MAC scores . The behavioral /personality correlates of the MAC were determined separately for black and white patients .
Black and white alcoholics did not differ significantly on the MAC (both in terms of group mean MAC scores and accurate identification of patients using cutting scores ) . Black nonalcoholics , on the other hand , scored significantly higher than white nonalcoholics on the MAC and were less accurately identified by means of MAC cutting scores . As a result , the MAC was observed to successfully discriminate between white alcoholics and nonalcoholics (66 .3 % ) but not between black alcoholics and nonalcoholics (55 .5 % ) . This study also found that black and white patients demonstrated similar behavioral /personality correlational patterns with the MAC .
The inability of the MAC to discriminate between black alcoholics and nonalcoholics suggests that it may not be as useful with black patients as it has been with white patients . The results of the present investigation are consistent with Gynther's (1972 ) contention that significant racial variations exist on the MMPI , in this case on a special MMPI scale , the MAC . It was concluded , therefore , that clinically significant black -white differences were observed on the MAC . |
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