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Editor’s Note:

The following article was prepared for the purpose to describe a new psychological assessment instrument that, although designed for a somewhat different purpose, has been shown to be valuable when used in a forensic clinical psychology testing battery with individuals who are appealing governmental withdrawal of their high-level security clearances. Results from this new testing instrument are seen as being especially valuable and useful when attempting to report or otherwise communicate favorable (or unfavorable) levels of character and personal integrity possessed in the 11 governmentally-utilized adjudication concern areas.

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     When persons are being initially considered for being granted a security clearance, they end of being adjudicated for the involved clearance(s); whereby the adjudication standards have been prescribed earlier by governmental laws, regulations and/or directives. For example, the ‘Top Secret - Sensitive Compartmented Information’ (or TS-SCI) clearance adjudication standards currently are described in the Director of Central Intelligence Directive 6/4 (e.g., as prescribed in 1998 and frequently indicated simply as DCID-6/4). 

     This particular set of security clearance adjudication specifications is mentioned here as the PSSPQ was normed using hundreds of individuals being considered/adjudication for the TS-SCI clearance-level concept. According to the DCID-6/4, adjudication for the TS-SCI clearance concept involved almost a dozen different evaluation or consideration areas of concern (e.g., Loyalty [to the USA], Close Relations & Associates, Sexual Considerations, Cohabitation, Undesirable Character Traits, Financial Irresponsibility, Alcohol Abuse, Illegal Drugs & Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Emotional & Mental Disorders, Record of Law Violations, and Security Violations. The PSSPQ provides standardized scores for scales based on each of the adjudication concern areas. In addition to these scores, a standardized score from an specially constructed Lie Scale is also obtained. This Lie Scale, unlike many other frequently used lie or dissimulation scales (such as that used with the MMPI and MMPI-2), was purposely designed to be uncorrelated with intelligence. Because of its multiple-choice response format, each PSSPQ item’s response format is a five-level paradigm, the total 72-item PSSPQ can actually be regarded as being the equivalent of 360 true/false items. Ordinarily, most individuals can complete their responding to all of the items in about 10-15 minutes time.

     When having had the chance to inspect other psychologist’s earlier evaluative efforts (i.e., I was allowed to read their prepared psychological evaluation reports) with several of the individuals I was tasked to psychologically evaluate by their respective attorneys, I almost universally found that most of the conducted psychological testing was usually limited to the MMPI-2 (or some similar such personality test), a cognitive ability test (e.g., WAIS-III), and some form of personal history record. In a couple of the cases, it was found that the most major appearing test used was the Rorschach or some other projective or partially projective type instrumentation. It was not at all difficult to ascertain why the involved attorneys later decided to try to obtain the services of the author of the present article.

     Included in an appropriately chosen psychological testing battery, the present author also made major use of the PSSPQ in these type cases. Use of the PSSPQ would appear to be extremely appropriate as it was developed to assess the status or level, based upon information provided by the Subject individual, regarding those very specific matters or concerns upon which the original granting of the involved security clearance status was based. When use of the PSSPQ has been accomplished, it is possible for the involved evaluating psychologist to make direct and focused commentary regarding psychological status of the evaluated individual in relationship to security clearance holding status. Not only is it possible for statement and description of the involved individual’s standard scores on each of the DCI D6/4 adjudication areas of concern but also to describe (in standard score form) the individual’s propensity for lying, dissimulation, or ‘faking good.’ In some cases, additional use of the PSSPQ’s discriminant function prediction of success/denial regarding the granting of high-level security clearance status can be helpful in communicating the meaningfulness of the conducted psychological examination.

    One major aspect of forensic psychology practice has been noted to have changed a good deal within the past 10-15 years. In earlier times, when a forensic psychological examination was conducted, just about the only psychological tests administered were what could be considered as being the rather traditional clinical psychology testing devices, such as the MMPI and other widely used personality tests. Until the past few years, there really were only a very few (actually, close to none) psychological tests that had been developed exclusively for use in forensic psychology settings. Now, we forensic psychology practitioners have available a fairly large number (which is steadily increasing in number) of forensic psychology tests (e.g., PCL-R, Grisso’s several Miranda rights/waiver and police interrogation competency instruments, several competency to stand trial instruments, various criminal responsibility psychometric paradigms, child abuse potential tests, etc.). When a forensic psychologist now testifies in court regarding his/her conduct of a psychological examination (involving testing), he/she no longer has stretch the validity appropriateness of the tests utilized as many of the employed instruments were used entirely in the type of situation for which they were developed.

     Use of the PSSPQ in the psychological evaluation of persons whose security clearances have been ‘pulled’ or withdrawn would appear to be an appropriate and proper use of the instrument as this particular type utilization seems to be rather close to the original design purpose of the PSSPQ, i.e., to provide psychological testing of those characteristics which form the subject basis for adjudication for granting approval or denial regarding granting of high-level (i.e., TS-SCI) security clearances.

     Initial development work on the PSSPQ started back in 1986 and has continued to the present time. The developer of the PSSPQ has employed experimental usage of the instrument, in various aspects of his forensic clinical psychology practice, since about 1990. In 2002, commercial sales of this test started, with most of its advertising being conducted on the Internet. The main Web Sites that are associated with this latter mentioned matter are as follows:

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/individualsales.html

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/hrandsecdirectors.html
 

Stone, L. A. (1986). Manual: Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire. Harpers Ferry, WV: Author (Probity Press).

Stone, L. A. (2002). Use of the Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire (PSSPQ) in selected criminal justice cases. Electronic Journal of Forensic Psychonomics, 3, 4 pages.