The use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Health Attribution Test (HAT) for predicting referral compliance to a state vocational rehabilitation program was evaluated. Subjects included 53 patients (26 males, 27 females) who were chosen at random three to 18 months following discharge from an inpatient chronic and spinal pain center. Subjects were administered the MMPI and HAT upon hospital admission and seven outcome measures of referral compliance were obtained. A discriminant analysis was performed to test the hypothesis that certain items would best discriminate compliance. Most discriminative of compliance was the MMPI validity scale K (Wilks Lambda = .751, p ≤ .033). A regrouping of data into two groups, active and inactive, yielded ego strength (MMPI, ES) and ability to trust others (PA) as significant differentiating variables.

One hundred persons applying for services with the Texas Rehabilitation Commission with reported disabilities of alcohol/substance abuse or back injury/pain were selected for study. Subjects were assigned to two groups (alcohol or back) according to their reported disability. They were tested within one week of application and after 60 days were checked to see what rehabilitation status they were in to determine success or failure. Alcohol clients were administered the Health Attribution Test (HAT), 16PF, and an Alcohol Imagery questionnaire developed for this study. Back clients were administered the HAT, 16PF, and Pain Drawings. Statistical procedures including Pearson correlation, stepwise discriminant analysis, and discriminant analysis were performed. The HAT Internal Factor showed a significant relationship to rehabilitation success or failure and the 16PF motivation indices approached significance. The discriminant analysis demonstrated that success or failure could be predicted at a significant level using these measures. Issues of practicality in using these instruments (particularly imagery measures) in a rehabilitation counseling practice were noted.