Examining the bipolarity of the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory-2-restructured form (MMPI-2-RF) behavioral / externalizing dysfunction (BXD) scale using a laboratory measure of impulsivity

Abstract

This study sought to test if trait levels of impulsivity were related in a nonmonotonic manner to success on a laboratory task of impulsivity. Participants completed the MMPI-2-RF, a self-report measure of psychopathology, and the Angling Risk Task (ART), a laboratory measure of impulsivity. Variables of interest were T-scores on the MMPI-2-RF scale Behavioral/Externalizing Dysfunction (BXD) and total money earned on the ART, which was conceptualized as a measure of success on the task. After screening, the sample consisted of 173 undergraduate students. The findings showed no evidence to support a nonmonotonic relationship between BXD scores and success on the Angling Risk Task when tested by (1) polynomial regression, and (2) the two lines test, a procedure recently developed to detect nonmonotonicity. Results do not support the hypothesis of an optimal level of impulsivity, at least in a nonclinical population and with a laboratory operationalization of impulsivity. Future studies should examine this question in samples with greater variability and using more consequential operationalizations of impulsivity.

Keywords

• MMPI-2-RF
• impulsivity
• bipolarity
• Angling Risk Task