The BPI is a multiphasic personality inventory intended for use with both clinical and normal populations to identify sources of maladjustment and personal strengths. The easy reading level (grade 5) means the BPI may be used with a variety of adolescent and adult groups. Consisting of 240 true/false items, and 11 substantive clinical scales and one critical item scale, the BPI can be completed in approximately 35 minutes—about half the time required to complete other popular measures. The scale names, chosen to avoid potentially inaccurate diagnostic labels while emphasizing construct dimensions of psychopathology, include: Alienation, Anxiety, Denial, Depression, Deviation, Hypochondriasis, Impulse Expression, Interpersonal Problems, Persecutory Ideas, Self Depreciation, Social Introversion, Thinking Disorder.
Highly sophisticated scale construction procedures were employed to foster scale validities and freedom from response biases. Test booklets were revised in 1995 to replace objectionable items.
This report is to be used by qualified professionals as part of a psychodiagnostic evaluation. This report is not intended to be used alone, but should be used in conjunction with other sources of information describing the respondent. This report should not be revealed to the respondent or his family but rather is intended for use by a professional who is qualified in the use of psychological tests.