Psychological Testing in Custody Cases

If you are fighting for custody of your children, you might have to meet with a mental health professional who will evaluate your parenting skills. This process typically involves interviews and may include psychological testing, all designed to give the judge more information about each parent's ability to parent.

One of the most popular tests, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), is designed to screen for psychological disorders and assess personality characteristics. As one legal commentator has explained, MMPI results are meant to generate hypotheses about a parent, not stand-alone conclusions. (Gerald Bellettirie, Personality Testing and Clinical Judgment when Using the MMPI in Child Custody Evaluations, American Bar Association, Family Advocate.) The same article notes that older "projective" tests, such as the Rorschach Inkblot Test, have fallen out of favor in custody evaluations because they generally lack strong empirical support and are harder to defend under cross-examination.

Custody evaluators use a variety of other tests, including:

• The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), which is used to identify personality disorders based on the respondent's answers to a series of true/false questions.
• The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), similar to the Rorschach Inkblot Test, asks the respondent to describe what they see when viewing black and white drawings of people. The responses supposedly reveal personality.
• The Bricklin Perceptual Scales (BPS) is a child-rating instrument developed specifically for custody evaluations. The child answers questions rating each parent's competence, supportiveness, and consistency, and the parent who scores higher is generally regarded as the preferred custodial parent. Bricklin also developed a related instrument, the Perception-of-Relationships Test (PORT), which asks the child to draw each parent, draw the family, and complete a story about how the family resolves conflict. Both tests have drawn criticism from psychologists and the courts for lacking sufficient independent validity and reliability research.
• The Ackerman-Schoedorf Scales for Parent Evaluation of Custody (ASPECT) combines a variety of tests, including the MMPI, IQ testing for the parents and child, a draw-a-person component, and the TAT, along with interviews of the parents. Like the BPS Test, ASPECT has also been sharply criticized.

Testing is only one tool—often a shortcut—for gathering and assessing information. Custody evaluators may rely more heavily on interviews with the parents, children, and sometimes with teachers, pediatricians, babysitters, and other important people in the lives of the family, such as stepparents, siblings, and grandparents. But if the evaluator believes a particular friend or family member is biased, they may skip that interview.

The final word, however, always belongs to the judge, not the evaluator. But it's important to note that most judges give a lot of deference to the custody evaluator's findings, since the evaluator has spent time with the family and has, ideally, taken a careful approach in making the final recommendation. Because judges give evaluators' reports and recommendations serious consideration, it's in your interest to be sincere and cooperative when you meet with one.

If you're in the middle of a custody battle and are set to meet with a custody evaluator, it's a good idea to consult with a family law attorney beforehand.