Abstract. Normally, the process of adolescence is quite painful and complicated, and it is important to distinguish those conditions that do not require long-term treatment and psychiatric care from patho­logical states requiring accurate diagnosis. This report aims to raise the issue of difficulties and specifics in assessing personality in adolescence with the standard methods used in clinical practice in Bulgaria. For this purpose, the results from the application of two of the most commonly used methods in clinical practice in our country are presented: the short form of a questionnaire for the study of personality MMPI (71) and the Thematic apperception test. The studied sample of adolescents (N=230, 55% girls), between 14 and 16 years, was divided into two subgroups: adolescents with “psychotic” type of profile and adolescents with “neurotic” type of profile. The data was collected in the course of twelve years (2010-2022), in multi-profile hospital “Sv. Marina” – Varna, both from the child and adolescent psychi­atric clinic and from consultations of adolescents in the pediatric clinic. The study found good indicators of the reliability of MMPI short-term scales (71) in the adolescent group between 14 and 16 years of age (Cronbach’s alpha values from 0.53 to 0.73), while for a more detailed assessment of personality predisposition, experiences, and feelings, the combination of self-assessment and projective methods might be helpful.

Key words: MMPI (71), TAT, adolescence, personality

Full text here.