For an instrument as widely used as the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS), there have been few ~tudies(l.~) concerning its use with psychiatric groups and none dealing with disturbed adolescents. This study investigated whether EPPS scores are able to difrerentiate between a group of disturbed, hospitalized adolescents and non-hospitalized adolescents with no known psychiatric symptomology. Age range of Ss was 1518 years. Disturbed Ss were 40 males and 39 females hospitalized a t the Wyoming State Hospital. Non-disturbed Ss were 40 males and 39 females from Wyoming high schools. Mean age for the groups were, respectively, 16.26; 16.62; 16.30; and 16.54.
Results obtained indicate no significant difference between female disturbed and non-disturbed groups on any EPPS variable. In males, differences in decreasing order of significance were found between mean scores of the disturbed and non-disturbed groups for Deference (11.82 -14.18; 1 = 2.69; P < .01), Heterosexuality (14.02 -17.63; t = 2.37; P < .02), Order (11.40-9.66; t = 2.07; P < .05), and Dominance (12.77 -14.71; t = 1.97; P < .05). For the combined male and female groupings, the only significant difference was for Heterosexuality (12.80 -15.30; t = 2.23; P < .05), and this is explicable on the basis of the male differences already noted. In view of the fact that consistent differentiation is not obtained for both males and females, the use of the EPPS in differentiating disturbed from non-disturbed adolescents is questioned. SUMMARY The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule was employed to differentiate disturbed, h m pitalized male and female adolescents from comparable non-disturbed groups. For the female groups, mean EPPS scores evidenced no signscant differences. For the males, significant differences were found for Deference, Order, Dommance and Heterosexuality. Because of the inability of the test to adequately differentiate the disturbed from non-disturbed in females as well as males, question was raised relative to its applicability for the purpose utilized.