Behavioral correlates for spike-4, spike-9, and 4-9/9-4 MMPI profiles in students at a university mental health center.

Numerous investigators have noted that spike-4, spike-9, and 4-9/9-4 profiles occur with an unusually high frequency in college students. Five hundred and fifty files of college students who requested outpatient psychiatric services were reviewed, and the data from 47 files were extracted in which the student patient had a clinically elevated spike-4, spike-9, or 4-9/9-4 profile. Numerous significant psychopathological behavioral correlates were found for each profile type, which supports the contention that these profile types are reflective of significant psychopathology and are not examples of benign deviations of a particular sample from the original normative group.