The validity of certain questions which purport to measure neurotic tendencies

Abstract

A study was made of the B1-N neurotic tendency scale (Bernreuter Personality Inventory) with the following groups of patients at the New York Psychiatric Institute: manic-depressive (manic), manic-depressive (depressed), dementia praecox, psychoneurosis, and "others" (general paralysis, psychopathic personality, etc.). The test does not clearly determine neurotic tendency in individual psychiatric patients. A comparison of case history items with answers on the neurotic tendency scale shows a 73% mean agreement. The greatest source of disagreement seems to be in contradiction between case history and patient's opinion on the questionnaire. A study of the most diagnostic items shows that "Yes" answers tend to have a high agreement with outside validating criteria. The method of internal consistency applied to this scale with normal and psychotic cases shows a similar distribution of scores for both groups. A high score on the neurotic scale is indicative of maladjustment, but a low score does not necessarily signify emotional stability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)