Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory Research Articles

Internet Gaming Disorder in Adolescents: Personality, Psychopathology and Evaluation of a Psychological Intervention Combined With Parent Psychoeducation.

Internet Gaming Disorder is an increasingly prevalent disorder, which can have severe consequences in affected young people and in their families. There is an urgent need to improve existing treatment programs; these are currently hampered by the lack of research in this area. It is necessary to more carefully define the symptomatic, psychosocial and personality characterization of these patients and the interaction between treatment and relevant variables. The objectives of this study were three: (1) to analyze the symptomatic and personality profiles of young patients with Internet Gaming Disorder in comparison with healthy controls; (2) to analyze the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral treatment on reducing symptomatology; and (3) to compare the results of that treatment with or without the addition of a psychoeducational group offered to the parents. The final sample consisted of 30 patients consecutively admitted to a specialized mental health unit in Spain, and 30 healthy controls. The experimental group received individual cognitive-behavioral therapy. The experimental group was divided into two subgroups (N = 15), depending on the addition or not of a psychoeducational group for their parents (consecutively admitted). Scores on the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MACI), the Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R), the State-Trait Anxiety Index (STAI), and other clinical and psychopathological measures were recorded. The patients were re-assessed post treatment (except for the MACI questionnaire). Compared with healthy controls, patients did not differ in symptomatology at baseline, but scored significantly higher in the personality scales: Introversive and Inhibited, and in the expressed concerns scales: Identity Confusion, Self-Devaluation, and Peer Insecurity and scored significantly lower in the Histrionic and Egotistic scale. In the experimental group, pre-post changes differed statistically on SCL-90-R scales Hostility, Psychoticism, and Global Severity Index and on the diagnostic criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder, regardless of the addition of a psychoeducational group for parents. Pre-post changes did not differ between experimental subgroups. However, the subgroup without psychoeducation for parents presented statistically higher drop-out rates during treatment. The results of this study are based on a sample of patients seeking treatment related to problems with online gaming, therefore, they may be of value for similar patients.

Personality styles and self-harm in adolescents of the city of Arequipa

The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between personality styles and self-injury. The sample was of 997 students between 13 and 18 years old (M=15.24 years), who attended between third and fifth of secondary school in public and private schools of the city of Arequipa. The research design was of the transversal, descriptive - correlational type. The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI), the Sub-Scale of Self-injury and Self-injury Thoughts (SIBTI), and a sociodemographic survey were used. The results indicated that there is a prevalence of 34.9% in relation to self-injurious thoughts, while 27.9% of those evaluated have self-harmed, with the average age of onset of self-injury being 12.61 years. The main triggers are negative mood (48.2%) and family problems (39.9%). Likewise, we found that sensitive personality styles (r = .293; p<.001), inhibited (r = .203; p<.001), violent (r = .149; p<.001) are those that more are associated with self-injurious behaviors. It is concluded that sensitive, inhibited and violent personality styles are linked to a higher prevalence of self-injury in adolescents in the city of Arequipa.

Millon's Contributions to Preadolescent and Adolescent Personality Assessment: Searching Onward and Upward

Theodore Millon was one of the most influential personality theorists of the 20th century. His theory was originally rooted in biosocial learning models and later reconceptualized as an evolutionary model. This foundation of Millon's work encompasses the entire life span. He had a genuine concern for humankind, especially children. His theory encompasses a comprehensive understanding of the relationship among childhood experiences, parenting styles, and recurring events throughout the life span in shaping the personality. Notable contributions to child and adolescent assessment are the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (Millon, Green, & Meagher, 1982), the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (Millon, Millon, & Davis, 1993), and the Millon Pre-Adolescent Clinical Inventory (M–PACI; Millon, Tringone, Millon, & Grossman, 2005). Given Millon's influence on the personality disorders section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the aforementioned instruments have personality constructs tied to familiar DSM categories, and among them, cover the age range of 9 to 18 years old. His development of the Millon Inventories revolutionized personality assessment in the United States and abroad. Millon's legacies will live on through his works and through the respect and compassion he demonstrated toward others.

On the use of personality characteristics in predicting compliance in orthodontic practice

Cooperation of the patient during orthodontic treatment is a major determinant of a successful treatment result. Unfortunately, noncompliance is a serious problem in orthodontics. A patient’s noncompliance can result in a longer treatment time, destruction of the teeth and periodontium, extraction of additional teeth, collapse of a corrected malocclusion after treatment, frustration for the patient, and additional stress for the orthodontist and staff. 1 Southard K.A. Tolley E.A. Arheart K.L. Hackett-Renner C.A. Southard T.E. Application of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory in evaluating orthodontic compliance. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 1991; 100: 553-561 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar

The relationship of adolescent personality and family environment to psychiatric diagnosis.

This study examines the relationship of adolescent personality and family environment to psychiatric diagnosis in 170 adolescents admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit. Patients were administered the Child Assessment Schedule (CAS), the family Environment Scale (FES), and the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI). Adolescent personality and/or family environment were related to 1) major depression, conduct disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in both boys and girls, 2) oppositional defiant disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and overanxious disorder in girls, and 3) dysthymic disorder and alcohol use in boys. The study empirically shows the relationship of both personality and family environment in psychiatric diagnoses.

Identifying Violent-Toward-Staff Juvenile Delinquents via the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory and Neuropsychological Measures

Objective: Investigate personality and neuropsychological characteristics of violent-towards-staff (VTS) and non-VTS juvenile offenders (JOs). Methods: 68 JOs; 11 VTS and 57 non-VTS, completed the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MACI). Twenty JOs; 4 VTS and 16 non-VTS; completed Trails A, B, and ABC; Luria sensorimotor; and the WISC-III Mazes. Results: Discriminant analysis based on the 3 MACI scales measuring traits similar to psychopathic personality traits correctly categorized all 68 JOs to the correct VTS or non-VTS category (p < .01). Discriminant analysis based on the 6 most salient MACI scales correctly categorized all 68 JOs to the correct VTS or non-VTS category (p < .05). Discriminant analysis based on the 10 most salient MACI questions correctly categorized 100% of VTS JOs (p = .0002). VTS JOs completed Trails B slower than non-VTS JOs (p < .02). VTS JO scores did not differ from non-VTS JO scores on Trails A, Trails ABC and Mazes. Discriminant analysis of Trails A, B, and ABC, and the WISC-III Mazes tests failed to categorize JOs at a significant level. JCF = Juvenile Correctional Facility, VTS = Violent towards staff, JO = Juvenile Offender.

Personality Functioning in Adolescent Heart Transplant Recipients

Despite the obvious psychosocial stress associated with pediatric heart transplantation, there has been little research conducted on the psychological impact of this highly invasive treatment. In this article we report on the personality functioning of 15 adolescent heart transplant recipients who completed the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory. Psychological distress was common in the sample, and behavioral tendencies were more consistent with internalizing types of behavior. Different personality patterns emerged when patients who had received their transplant because of congenital disease were compared with those who had acquired cardiac conditions. Patients with a history of congenital disease endorsed more passive and dependent characteristics, which is consistent with both previous research and clinical practice. The findings are discussed within a developmental model of maladjustment.

Personality characteristics of adolescent suicide attempters.

The purpose of this study was to explore both the personality characteristics and the symptoms of personality disorder of adolescent suicide attempters, as well as the relationship between personality variables and hopelessness in this population. Two sample populations were used in this study. First, 102 adolescent suicide attempters between 13 and 18 years of age completed the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) and the Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC). A second group of 35 adolescent suicide attempters were administered the HSC and the revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB). No distinctive personality characteristics or symptoms of personality disorders were found. However, affective distress seemed to be the most prominent feature in the presentation of these adolescents. Additionally, high scores on the HSC were associated with elevated scores on the Personality Style scales of the MAPI and higher (more dysfunctional) scores on Affect Regulation on the DIB. The results suggest that clinicians should focus most on the personality characteristic of sensitivity and on affect regulation when assessing adolescent suicide attempters. In addition, hopelessness is important to systematically assess because it appears to be related to a variety of dysfunctional personality characteristics that may affect follow-up outcome.

Factor structure of the Million Adolescent Personality Inventory for psychiatric inpatients.

A principal components factor analysis (with varimax rotation) was performed on the Millon Adolescent Personality Scale Base Rate scores of 335 adolescent psychiatric inpatients. A four-factor solution was obtained (accounting for 84.1% of the variance), which was similar to that obtained by Millon, et al, for the normative sample. Confirmatory factor analyses, however, using data obtained from computer generated random responses to the test, also fit the inpatient and normative sample data very well. The factor structure of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory therefore was inferred to be driven by the considerable item-scale overlap that characterizes the test.

The Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Minority Adolescent Mothers

To examine the incidence and effects of childhood sexual abuse experiences on the lives of adolescent mothers who were Mexican American and African American. Specifically, the personality characteristics of the adolescent mothers who experienced sexual abuse as assessed using the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory were compared with those of minority adolescent mothers who were not abused sexually. An exploratory descriptive design. Four public agencies caring for adolescent mothers in two urban centers in Texas. Mexican American and African American adolescent mothers (N = 124), ages 13-20 years. The Millon Personality Inventory, the Life Event Scale-Adolescents, the Childhood Sexual Experience Survey, and a demographic data sheet. Forty-four percent (n = 54) of the respondents reported childhood sexual abuse experience. Data from 111 subjects (two groups, abuse and nonabuse) were analyzed by MANCOVA techniques. Significant differences were found between the two groups when the effect of the Life Event Scale-Adolescents was controlled (Multivariate F[12, 97] = 3.055, p = 0.001). Univariate F tests (df1, 108) showed significant differences in self-concept (F = 18.434, p < 0.000), personal esteem (F = 8.819, p = 0.004), body comfort (F = 10.442, p = 0.002), sexual acceptance (F = 9.918, p = 0.002), peer security (F = 10.412, p = 0.002), family rapport (F = 9.801, p = 0.002), academic confidence (F = 5.764, p = 0.018), social conformity (F = 4.552, p = 0.035), scholastic achievement (F = 19.991, p < 0.000), and attendance consistency (F = 10.009, p = 0.002). The mothers in the abuse group had consistently poorer scores than those in the nonabuse group. These findings suggest that childhood sexual abuse may be related to vulnerability for adolescent motherhood.

Relationship of Personality, Environmental, and DICA Variables to Adolescent Hopelessness: A Neural Network Sensitivity Approach

This study identified critical factors from a set of psychiatric diagnoses, personality traits, and family and social support variables that relate to hopelessness in adolescents. One hundred fifty adolescents were selected in a systematic sample from 1,700 high school students; they completed the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory, the Parental Bonding Questionnaire, the Social Support Questionnaire, the Hopelessness Scale for Children and were interviewed by trained clinicians on the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents. Selected variables were chosen for a back-propagation neural network model and for subsequent sensitivity and statistical analysis. Sensitive adolescents and adolescents with less impulse control scored high on hopelessness. Forceful adolescents were less hopeless. Using the neural network models, the authors suggest that assertive training as well as group activities that increase cooperativeness may ameliorate hopelessness.

Persistent MAPI scale 6 elevations after inpatient treatment.

Of 81 adolescent inpatients with elevated (> 74) admission scores on scale 6 (forceful/antisocial) of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI; Millon, Green, & Meagher, 1982), 44 (54.32%) continued to have elevated scale 6 scores on the discharge administration of the test. These 44 subjects (labeled High 6) did not differ significantly from the other 37 subjects (labeled Low 6) on several variables that have been associated with conduct disturbance. The two groups did differ significantly, however, on family size, parental (especially paternal) psychopathology, and prognosis. The High 6 group tended to come from larger families, had a higher frequency of parental pathology, and more often received negative prognoses than did the Low 6 group. A discriminant function analysis conducted on the MAPI expressed concerns scales on the admission administration of the test resulted in a 76.54% correct classification of subjects into the High 6 and Low 6 groups. In general, the High 6 subjects appeared less troubled and more trouble than those subjects in the Low 6 group. The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of the MAPI as a component in the assessment of the treatment amenability of adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders.

Diagnosis of Disruptive Behavior Disorders using the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory

Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory differential diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder vs no behavior disorder was investigated. Results were twice cross-validated. Millon adolescent Scales 4, 5, 6, G, SS, and TT were closely related to diagnosis of behavior disorder. Two psychometric rules averaged 70% hits and 35% false positives over three samples, Rule 1 of &gt;2 elevations (baserate score &gt;63) among Scales 6-G-SS-TT and Rule 2 of Scale 4 elevated with Scale 5 or with one of 6-G-SS-TT. An ancillary rule was highly specific to behavior disorder (90%). Two broad dimensions or factors appeared to be represented in the key scales; Scales 4 and 5 exemplified a histrionic-narcissistic factor, while the 6-G-SS-TT combination typified behavioral conflict and instability.

Diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorders using the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory.

Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory differential diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder vs no behavior disorder was investigated. Results were twice cross-validated. Millon adolescent Scales 4, 5, 6, G, SS, and TT were closely related to diagnosis of behavior disorder. Two psychometric rules averaged 70% hits and 35% false positives over three samples, Rule 1 of > 2 elevations (baserate score > 63) among Scales 6-G-SS-TT and Rule 2 of Scale 4 elevated with Scale 5 or with one of 6-G-SS-TT. An ancillary rule was highly specific to behavior disorder (90%). Two broad dimensions or factors appeared to be represented in the key scales; Scales 4 and 5 exemplified a histrionic-narcissistic factor, while the 6-G-SS-TT combination typified behavioral conflict and instability.

Reflections on the Rorschach and the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory.

Although no significant relationships were found between presence of Rorschach reflection responses and scores on Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory Scales 5 and 6 of 26 boys and 30 girls who were psychiatric inpatients, significant differences within the reflection group were found for diagnosis on Scale 5.

The MAPI as a treatment outcome measure for adolescent inpatients

The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI; Millon, Green, & Meagher, 1982) was administered at admission and discharge to 215 hospitalized adolescents. Significant mean score differences were found for both internalizing (affective disorder) and externalizing (disruptive behavior disorder) adolescents. Consistent with theory, internalizing adolescents reported significantly greater distress at both admission and discharge than externalizing adolescents. Finally, test-retest reliability coefficients were somewhat lower than those reported previously (Millon et al., 1982) for hospitalized adolescents.

Psychometric properties of the separation-individuation test of adolescence within a clinical population

Completed forms of the Separation Individuation Test of Adolescence (SITA) and the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory were obtained from 117 clinical subjects. In addition, clinicians who were working with the subjects rated them on the SITA's subscale dimensions. The results were compared with those previously found for a nonclinical population. Moderately strong internal-structural properties were attained for six of the nine SITA subscales. Personality external criteria correlations showed a great deal of convergence with findings previously obtained from a nonclinical sample and were consistent with the theoretical foundations of the SITA subscales. Clinician ratings did not tend to correlate with the complementary SITA subscales, although they did with SITA subscales that were conceptually similar.

The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory and the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory

The theoretical grounds, purposes, and features of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI; Millon, Green, &amp; Meagher, 1982) and its forthcoming replacement the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI; Millon, in press) are reviewed. The rationale and procedure for the construction of the component scales are briefly explained, and the logic of configural or profile interpretation is examined and recommended. Uses and limitations of the MAPI and MAC1 are considered. Evaluative research, although limited in scope, points to the general utility of the MAPI and MACI as clinical tools, and to areas where further study may enhance their applicability in a counseling context.

Investigating the relationship between the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory and the Personality Inventory for Children with a sample of learning disabled adolescents.

The present study involved a preliminary evaluation of the correlations between subscales on the Personality Inventory for Children and the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory with 25 learning disabled adolescents. Analysis yielded a number of significant correlations between these two scales, using the Personality Inventory for Children as the anchor scale, and showed that these adolescents as a group scored within clinically acceptable ranges on both diagnostic scales. Both scales need further psychometric and clinical investigation, and as such, the limitations of the study and the research needed are addressed, including the need for more multitrait, multimethod studies.

Relationships between the MAPI and the MMPI in the assessment of adolescent psychopathology.

Although the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) are both widely used in the clinical assessment of adolescents, no research has examined the interrelationship between these two instruments. We investigated MMPI and MAPI responses from 199 adolescents assessed at entrance to inpatient or outpatient psychiatric programs in Florida and Virginia. Univariate correlation analyses identified areas of significant associations between these measures, with coefficients ranging widely from -.70 to .72. Substantial diagnostic differences were found between these instruments. The MAPI, for example, yielded no depression-related diagnoses, but produced many more adjustment disorder and personality disorder diagnoses than the MMPI. The rates of diagnostic assignment agreements between diagnoses produced by clinical judgment, MMPI findings, and MAPI interpretive reports were typically quite low.