Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Content Research Articles

Impact of Endoscopists' Personality Traits on Adenoma and Polyp Detection Rates in Colonoscopy: A KASID Multicenter Study.

The personality traits of endoscopists have been suggested to affect the adenoma detection rate (ADR). We thus evaluated the relationship between endoscopists' personality traits and the ADR during colonoscopy using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). In total, 1230 patients (asymptomatic and aged 50-80years) who underwent screening or surveillance (≥ 5years) colonoscopy were recruited from 13 university hospitals by 20 endoscopists between September 2015 and December 2017. We retrospectively measured the ADR, polyp detection rate (PDR), and number of adenomas per colonoscopy (APC). All 20 endoscopists completed all 567 true/false MMPI-2 items. The overall mean colonoscopy withdrawal time, PDR, ADR, and APC were 7.3 ± 2.8min, 55%, 45.3%, and 0.97 ± 1.58, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the MMPI-2 clinical scales (e.g., hypochondriasis and psychasthenia), content scales (e.g., obsessiveness and type A character), or supplementary scales (e.g., dominance and social responsibility) between the high ADR group (ADR ≥45%, n = 10) and the low ADR group (ADR < 45%, n = 10). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the ADR was associated significantly with patient age and sex. The ADR was related significantly to endoscopists' colonoscopy experience and the per-minute increase in the colonoscopy withdrawal time (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.06-1.38, p = 0.005). In a logistic regression analysis adjusted for patient factors, the ADR was associated significantly with ego strength (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.09, p = 0.044), as measured by the MMPI-2. With the exception of ego strength, the endoscopists' personality traits were not associated with adenoma or polyp detection.

P03-29 - Parkinson's disease and predictors of impulse control disorders in MMPI-2

This was a case control study involving 46 patients suffering from Parkinson disease (PD); 13 with impulse control disorder (ICD) and 33 without ICD; and 56 controls. The personality traits in these groups were analyzed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). 46 patients with PD and 56 control group subjects were included into study. ICD were identified in 13 patients from PD group. There were higher scores than pathological threshold (65) in four domains of MMPI-2 Clinical scales: D (Depression), Pt (Psychastenia), Sc (Schizophrenia) and SI (Social introversion) in PD patients with ICD; but there were not statistical difference in any of these scales in comparison with the group of PD patients without ICD. In the case of MMPI-2 Subscales and Content scales there were higher scores than pathological threshold in eight domains of MMPI-2: SOD (Social Discomfort), PD4 (Psychopatic deviate - social alienation), PA1 (Paranoia - persecutory ideas), SC1 (Schizophrenia), PA_O (Paranoia - subtle), MA_O (Hypomania - obvious), SI1 (Syness/Self-Consciousness), SI3 (Alienation self and others) and Ho (Hostility), but there were statistical differences only in one of these domains in comparison with the PD patients without ICD: SI3 (alienation self and others). There was earlier onset of the disease and higher dose of levodopa in PD patients with ICD than in PD patients without ICD.Supported by project IGA MZ ČR NS 10301-3/2009

MMPI-2 validity, clinical and content scales, and the Fake Bad Scale for personal injury litigants claiming idiopathic environmental intolerance

Background Idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) is a descriptor for nonspecific complaints that are attributed to environmental exposure. Methods The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2) was administered to 50 female and 20 male personal injury litigants alleging IEI. Results The validity scales indicated no overreporting of psychopathology. Half of the cases had elevated scores on validity scales suggesting defensiveness, and a large number had elevations on Fake Bad Scale (FBS) suggesting overreporting of unauthenticated symptoms. The average T-score profile for females was defined by the two-point code type 3-1 (Hysteria–Hypochondriasis), and the average T-score profile for males was defined by the three-point code type 3-1-2 (Hysteria, Hypochondriasis–Depression). On the content scales, Health Concerns (HEA) scale was significantly elevated. Conclusion Idiopathic environmental intolerance litigants ( a) are more defensive about expressing psychopathology, ( b) express distress through somatization, ( c) use a self-serving misrepresentation of exaggerated health concerns, and ( d) may exaggerate unauthenticated symptoms suggesting malingering.

External Correlates of the MMPI-2 Content Component Scales in Mental Health Inpatients

External correlates of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) Content Component Scales were identified using an inpatient sample of 544 adults. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) produced correlates of the Content Component Scales, demonstrating external validity with clinician-rated and self-report scales. Relationships between MMPI-2 Content Component Scales and patient hospital chart variables were also examined. Results demonstrated cross-criterion validity in that most MMPI-2 Content Component Scales correlated with appropriate BPRS dimensions, SCL-90-R items, and other patient variables. Discriminant validity of the Content Component Scales was also demonstrated. In addition, the finding that similar patterns of correlates are produced when the component scales are correlated with a self-report measure, as well as clinician ratings and medical chart variables, provides converging lines of evidence supporting the construct validity of the Content Component Scales.

Susceptibility of the MMPI-2 Clinical, Restructured Clinical (RC), and Content Scales to Overreporting and Underreporting

The authors examined and compared the susceptibility of three Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scale sets (Clinical, Restructured Clinical [RC], and Content) to over- and underreporting using five analog samples. Two samples of 85 and 191 undergraduate students, respectively, took the MMPI-2 under underreporting versus standard instructions. Three samples consisting of 42 undergraduates, 73 psychiatric inpatients, and 84 medical patients took the MMPI-2 under overreporting versus standard instructions. A comparison of the effect sizes across the three sets of scales indicated that Clinical Scale scores are not less susceptible to distortion than the Content or RC Scales. An apparent lesser susceptibility to underreporting for the Clinical Scales was an artifact of the subtle items' effect on these scales.

A comparison of MMPI-2 validity in African American and Caucasian psychiatric inpatients.

This study investigated ethnic differences on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in 229 African American and 1,558 Caucasian psychiatric inpatients. Mean differences were found on several MMPI-2 validity and clinical scales. These were generally consistent with differences between the groups, indicated by the available extratest criterion data. To identify potential bias, the authors conducted 65 step-down hierarchical multiple regression analyses, predicting conceptually relevant clinical criteria from either MMPI-2 clinical or content scales for each gender. A number of MMPI-2 scales evidenced bias reflecting minor underprediction of psychopathology in African Americans. It is important to note that, in almost all cases, the magnitude of these differences was small and not clinically significant.

MMPI-2 profiles of filicidal, mariticidal, and homicidal women.

The present study compared the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) clinical and content scale profiles of a group of adult women (N = 73) charged with either murder of their child (filicide) (n = 30), their partner (mariticide) (n = 19), or an unrelated adult (homicide) (n = 24). No significant differences were seen among the three groups on either the MMPI-2 clinical or content scales. Clinical inspection of the 53 valid MMPI-2 profiles (F < 110T) revealed a 6-8 mean profile for the filicidal women, a 2-6 mean profile for the mariticidal women, and a 4-8 mean profile for the homicidal women. Application of the data for criminal forensic psychological evaluations is discussed.

Incremental validity of the MMPI-2 content scales in an outpatient mental health setting.

The incremental validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Content Scales (MMPI-2; J. N. Butcher, J. R. Graham, C. L. Williams, & Y. S. Ben-Porath, 1990) was examined using clinical and content scale scores to predict conceptually relevant symptoms and personality characteristics of 274 male and 425 female mental health center outpatients. Regression analyses were performed to determine if the content scales contributed significantly beyond the conceptually relevant clinical scales in predicting therapists' ratings. Of the 10 content scales analyzed, incremental validity was demonstrated for 7 scales for men and 3 scales for women. A 2nd set of analyses indicated that incremental validity was demonstrated for 4 clinical scales for men and 6 clinical scales for women. The findings provide further evidence that the content scales aid interpretation of MMPI-2 scores by contributing additional information beyond the clinical scales. The clinical scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1942) were constructed using an empirical-keying approach, resulting in heterogeneity of content for each of the scales. Because not all items of a given scale are related logically to the clinical syndrome that the scale was developed to assess, and the clinical scale score itself does not directly reflect which content areas are endorsed by a test-taker, heterogeneity serves to reduce the ease with which clinical scale scores are interpreted and their meanings are communicated (Butcher, Graham, Williams, & Ben-Porath, 1990). Consideration of item content became more important as researchers and clinicians recognized its usefulness in score interpretation (Graham, 1993). Several attempts have been made to devise an effective method of assessing the item content endorsed by test-takers. One of the earliest approaches involved critical items whose content was judged to be indicative of serious psychopathology (Caldwell, 1969; Grayson, 1951; Koss & Butcher, 1973; Lachar & Wrobel, 1979). Another approach was to create content-based subscales within some of the clinical scales (Harris & Lingoes, 1955/1968). Also attempting to create content scales, Tryon and several colleagues (Stein, 1968) used factor analysis to identify clusters of items from across the entire test. In the most thorough and comprehensive effort at creating content scales for the MMPI, Wiggins (1966) used a combined rational-statistical approach that resulted in 13 content scales formed from across the entire MMPI item pool. These scales were

Validation of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire and the Reasons for Living Inventory in an adult psychiatric inpatient sample.

This study investigated the factor structure of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ) and the Linehan Reasons for Living Inventory (LRFL) in a sample of 205 adult psychiatric inpatients. Confirmatory factor analyses provided moderate support for the construct validity of each instrument. Coefficient alphas for the ASIQ (.98) and LRFL (.93) were high. In addition, a range of different clinical cutoff points was derived for each instrument. Both instruments were also better than chance in differentiating between the suicide attempter and psychiartic control groups. High ASIQ and low LRFL scores were significantly associated with scores on selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Content scales. The analyses also indicated that only the ASIQ added to the symptoms of hopelessness and negative affect in differentiating between the suicide attempter and psychiatric control groups. Results suggest that both instruments may be useful screening tests for suicidal behavior in psychiatric long-term care inpatient samples.

MMPI-2 Content Scales: How Much Content Do They Measure?

The new Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) content scales, designed to assess a wide range of substantive dimensions of psychopathology, are evaluated in terms of their confounding with general factors associated with response styles, such as desirability responding. We developed a set of 21 scales that ranged from high to low desirability by blocking sets of items ranked in terms of desirability and arbitrarily keyed in terms of ‘true’ and ‘false.’ The MMPI-2 was administered to 221 university undergraduates and scored for the 21 desirability scales and the 15 content scales. Factor analysis with Varimax rotation of the desirability scales showed a clear circumplex structure, with one dimension reflecting desirability and the other separating true- and false-keyed scales. Dwyer extension methods were used to project this solution into the space of the 15 content dimensions. Correlations between the projected stylistic structure and that obtained from the content scales directly were .98 and .98 for the two largest dimensions. Further analyses revealed that coefficient alphas of MMPI-2 content scales were reduced sharply when variance attributable to response styles was removed. It was concluded that convergent and discriminant validity of MMPI-2 content scales are seriously compromised by the presence of substantial, confounding, general variance.

Incremental Validity of the MMPI-2 Content Scales in a Psychiatric Sample

The current study replicated and expanded previous investigations that focused on the incremental contribution of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) content scales. The MMPI-2 and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) were administered to 597 adult psychiatric patients (289 females, 308 males) receiving inpatient treatment. In addition, clinical psychologists provided ratings on each of these patients with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Global Assessment Scale (GAS). A series of hierarchical stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted with MMPI-2 basic and content scales as the independent variables and SCL-90-R, BPRS, and GAS variables as the dependent criteria. Similar to Findings by Ben-Porath, McCully, and Almagor, MMPI-2 content scales were shown to add incrementally to the prediction of variance on self-report measures; the current study also revealed significant relationships to clinician-rater criteria. Implications of the present findings for test interpretation procedures and future research are presented and discussed.

A descriptive and validity study of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in an elderly Australian sample

This study examined MMPI-2 performance in a sample of 110 (60 female, 50 male) Australians aged 60–96. In addition, it evaluated the concurrent validity of four of the MMPI-2's new Content Scales (DEP, ANX, LSE, and HEA). Descriptive results revealed a pattern of MMPI-2 relative highs (scales L, Hs, and D) and lows (scales Pd, Pa, and Ma) that was, in general, consistent with MMPI profiles demonstrated in previous research on U.S. geriatric subjects. The MMPI-2 Content Scales designed to assess Depression (DEP) and Anxiety (ANX) evidenced substantial concurrent validity for both male and female subjects. The validity results associated with the Content Scales assessing Low Self-Esteem (LSE) and Health Concerns (HEA) were quite positive for male subjects but more mixed for females. In general, these results were seen as supporting both (1) the cross-cultural comparability of the MMPI-2 and its predecessor within this population and (2) the potential value of at least four of the new MMPI-2 Content Scales.

Couples in Marital Distress: A Study of Personality Factors as Measured by the MMPI-2

This study examines the relationship between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) measured personality characteristics and marital distress and provides empirical validation for using the MMPI-2 with a marital therapy population. Studied were 150 couples in marital therapy and 841 normal couples who participated in the MMPI-2 restandardization study. The MMPI-2, a biographical form, a partner rating form, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) were administered to all couples. The marital counseling group resembled previous marital counseling samples studied with the MMPI and scored significantly higher than the normative sample on several MMPI-2 scales. Relationships between the DAS and MMPI-2 clinical and content scale scores are reported. The Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) clinical scale and Family Problems (FAM) content scale were the most powerful group discriminators and strongest correlates of the DAS; their use as indices of marital distress is tested. The meaning of Pd as an index in assessing personality factors in marital distress is explored.