Initial Validity of the Logical Rorschach in the Assessment of Trauma

Abstract

Wagner's (2001) Logical Rorschach (LR) was designed to be a simple but reliable and valid system for assessing psychological distress and cognitive slippage using the Rorschach Inkblot Method (Exner, 2003 Exner, J. E. Jr. 2003. The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System, , 4th ed., New York: Wiley. [Google Scholar]). In this investigation, we administered the Rorschach to 50 adults with and without trauma histories. Scoring of the test followed both the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003) and the LR guidelines. Results indicate that the Perceptual Thinking Index (Exner, 2000 Exner, J. E. Jr. 2000. A primer for Rorschach interpretation, Asheville, NC: Rorschach Workshops. [Google Scholar], 2003 Exner, J. E. Jr. 2003. The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System, , 4th ed., New York: Wiley. [Google Scholar]), the CS-derived Trauma Content Index (Armstrong & Loewenstein, 1990 Armstrong, J. G. and Loewenstein, R. J. 1990. Characteristics of patients with multiple personality and dissociative disorders on psychological testing. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 178: 448–454. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Aggressive Past (Gacono & Meloy, 1994 Gacono, C. B. and Meloy, J. R. 1994. “The aggression response”. In The Rorschach assessment of aggressive and psychopathic personalities, Edited by: Gacono, C. B. and Meloy, J. R. 259–278. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [Google Scholar]), and the LR Perceptual Accuracy Score (Wagner, 2001 Wagner, E. E. 2001. The Logical Rorschach: A brief scoring method to screen for psychopathology, Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services. [Google Scholar]) scores were able to differentiate the 2 groups. Despite largely equivocal findings, it appears that some aspects of the LR may have some validity in the assessment of trauma-related phenomena.