Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory and clinical pain: The baby or the bathwater?

Abstract

T his article offers a commentary on the interesting article by Main and Spanswick regarding personal ity assessment and clin ical pain . Although Main and Spanswick address a number of important issues about assessment and conceptualizat ion, the focus of this commentary will be on the utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) with clinical pain. The reader is referred to the numerous references made by Main and Spanswick for more general discussion and information regarding personality assessment and its current role in clinical psychology, as well other conceptual issues such as the Cartesian model in science and medicine. Suffice it to say that I certainly agree with Main and Spanswick's recommendations that focus should be on a biopsychosocial perspective with clinical pain and the need for more emphasis on specific assessment methods within and between each of these areas of clinical pain responses. The reader is referred to several recent excellent papers offering a more ecological conceptual model addressing at least some of the many factors associated with the experience and expression of clinical pain. Let us now turn our attention to the question of MMPI usage with clinical pain.