No agreement between the Rorschach and self-assessed personality traits derived from the Comprehensive System.

Eighty psychiatric patients with different clinical diagnoses completed the Rorschach (Exner, 1993), the MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 1989) and also rated 51 written personality descriptions derived from the Comprehensive System (SAPCS). The 51 self-descriptions were constructed by the authors with the objective to achieve maximum overlap with the interpretive guidelines suggested for Rorschach Comprehensive System (RCS) variables, while simultaneously fitting with how patients could be expected to describe themselves in self-rating. With evidence of (1) independent judges' ability to correct classification of the items, (2) item test-retest stability, (3) sensitivity and specificity, measuring psychological adaptive capacity and vulnerability/pathology, and (4) item inter-correlation with the MMPI-2, patient's SAPCS ratings were expected to significantly converge with corresponding RCS measures. However, including all variable pairings, the mean correlation suggests that SAPCS statements overlapping with RCS interpretive statements do not measure the same constructs as the RCS variables to which the interpretive statements are referring. Standard validity scales in the MMPI-2 and first factor-related test interaction style did not predictably moderate the relation between RCS indices and the RCS-near self descriptions.

CSF 5-HIAA and the rorschach test in patients who have attempted suicide.

Two independent measures, 5-HIAA and the Rorschach Suicide Constellation (S-CON), both related to suicide, were studied in an attempt to explore any relationship between the two. Lumbar puncture and the Rorschach were performed in standardized manner on 38 consecutive psychiatric inpatients, who had made a recent suicide attempt. Low CSF 5-HIAA was significantly related to the S-CON (rs = -.517, p = .033) and the Vista variable in the S-CON appeared to play an important role for the correlation. The results indicate that suicide attempters with low CSF 5-HIAA in this sample tended to experience more discomfort and pain during self-inspection. These results raise questions whether shame may be involved in the psychobiology of suicide.