Abstract
Key et al. (2020) report descriptive statistics for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scale scores of a sample of 230 individuals tested in the context of parenting capacity evaluations (PCEs). On the basis of their findings, the authors recommend that K-corrected, rather than non-K-corrected MMPI-2 Clinical Scale scores be used in PCEs and they conclude that scores on the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales reflect false-negative findings that could have serious implications for the welfare of children. They also recommend applying a makeshift "L-correction" in PCEs. In this cautionary note, we explain why the authors' conclusions about the K-correction and the RC Scales cannot be supported with the data they report and run counter to a robust literature. Their recommendation that clinicians who use the MMPI-2 in PCEs (or any other setting) apply an L-correction is both unfounded and potentially harmful to evaluees and their children.