The MMPI–2–RF Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5–RF) Scales: Development and Validity Research

This article describes the development, internal psychometric, and external validation studies on scales designed to measure the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) from MMPI–2 Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF) items. Diverse and comprehensive data sets, representing various clinical and nonclinical populations, were classified into development and validation research samples. Item selection, retention, and exclusion procedures are detailed. The final set of PSY–5–RF scales contain 104 items, with no item overlap between scales (same as the original MMPI–2 PSY–5 scales), and no item overlap with the Demoralization scale. Internal consistency estimates are comparable to the longer MMPI–2 PSY–5 scales. Appropriate convergent and discriminant validity findings utilizing various self-report, collateral rating, and record review data are reported and discussed. A particular emphasis is offered for the unique aspects of the PSY–5 model: psychoticism and disconstraint. The findings are connected to the broader PSY–5 literature and the recommended review of systems (Harkness, Reynolds, & Lilienfeld, this issue) presented in this series of articles.     

Stability of MMPI scale scores within four codetypes across forty years

The changes in the standard validity and clinical scales on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were examined within four frequently occurring codetypes (Spike 4, 2-4/4-2, 2-7/7-2, and 6-8/8-6) in samples of psychiatric patients over a time span of 40 years. The validity and clinical scale scores within these four codetypes were very stable over this time span with differences in the range of only a few T-score points. These results are very similar to those reported by Pancoast and Archer (1989) who found remarkable stability in the MMPI scale scores of normal adult samples across 40 years.     

Characteristics of the frequent nightmare sufferer.

Previous research has found that persons who experience frequent nightmares score highly on scales that measure psychotic symptomatology. Neurotic symptoms have also been implicated as correlates of nightmare frequency. In this study, 30 adult lifelong nightmare sufferers were compared with 30 control subjects, matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Subjects were asked to record all dreams for 1 month and to complete the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Nightmare subjects scored significantly higher on the EPQ Neuroticism scale and on 8 MMPI clinical scales than did the control group. These scales also best discriminated between the groups in a direct discriminant analysis. The results are interpreted as a reflection of global maladjustment rather than of specific psychotic symptomatology.     

MMPI correlates of Exner's Egocentricity Index in an adolescent psychiatric population

This research examined the relationship between Exner's Egocentricity Index (EI) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Scales 2, 4, and 9 in an adolescent psychiatric population. Subjects with a low EI had significantly higher MMPI Depression (D) scale elevations compared to those with a high EI. Furthermore, of the adolescents who had Scale 2 scores in the clinical range, 68% also had an EI in the bottom half of the distribution. There was no relationship between the EI and MMPI scales 4 and 9. These findings are discussed in light of the generally poor correlations between MMPI and Rorschach variables.     

The relationship of the Rorschach Schizophrenia Index to psychotic features in a child psychiatric sample

In this study we investigated the reliability and validity of the Rorschach Schizophrenia Index (SCZI) from Exner's (1978, 1993) Comprehensive System for a sample of 413 child psychiatric inpatients by examining relationships with the Personality Inventory for Children-Revised (PIC-R) and chart diagnoses. Interscorer reliability and internal consistency were acceptable. Multivariate analyses of variance results revealed significantly different PIC-R profiles for those with and without elevated SCZI scores, with significant differences emerging on the PIC-R Psychosis (PSY) scale and 2 cognitive triad scales (Intellectual Screening and Development), which have been reported to be more frequently elevated in PIC-R profiles of children with psychotic disorders. Significant differences were found across SCZI groups for the PSY scale, Reality Distortion scale, reality testing critical items and chart diagnoses of psychotic disorder. Implications for clinical interpretation of the SCZI with children and issues for further research with this population are discussed.     

MMPI Response-Set Characteristics Among Adolescents

This study examined the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MPPI) profile characteristics for five different response sets in adolescent populations employing adolescent MMPI norms. In general, findings for "all-true" and "all-false" adolescent profiles were highly similar in shape and elevation to those reported in the adult literature (Graham, 1977; Lachar, 1974), whereas random profiles on adolescent norms differed substantially from adult-norm random profiles in shape but not elevation. The characteristics of "fake good" or "fake bad" response sets were investigated by the use of adolescent subjects in two settings. Ninety-four public high-school students were administered the MMPI with standard and "fake bad" instructions, and 24 adolescents in inpatient psychiatric treatment were administered the MMPI under standard and "fake good" instructions. The MMPI profiles generated by special instructional sets were analyzed in relation to the subject's age, sex, race, and actual MMPI profile features. Findings indicated that although sex and race effects were evident in normal adolescents' attempts to simulate psychopathology on the MMPI, teenagers generally produce profiles containing grossly exaggerated symptom patterns that are relatively easy to detect as invalid. In contrast, it was found that a substantial number of psychiatrically disturbed adolescents may effectively simulate normal profiles and that effectiveness in these attempts was related to greater age and lower actual MMPI T-score values on the Hs and Hy scales.     

Viewing the MMPI–2–RF Structure Through the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) Lens

Ben-Porath and Tellegen (2008) recommend organizing MMPI–2–RF scale interpretive information around 3 broad topics, emotional/internalizing dysfunction, thought dysfunction, and externalizing/behavioral dysfunction, and 3 additional topics labeled somatic complaints, interpersonal functioning, and interests. That organization is based primarily on structural analyses of the Restructured Clinical (RC) scales. This study reviewed the MMPI–2–RF's scale structure when the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) scales are included. Principal axis factor analyses with oblique rotation were conducted on the Restructured Clinical, PSY–5, and Special Problem (SP) scales in 2 samples, by gender. One sample was an outpatient community health center, the other a large, metropolitan inpatient psychiatric facility. The 6-factor solution evidenced each of the PSY–5 constructs plus a general somatic concerns factor. Implications of this solution in comparison to the 3-factor organizing structure recommended by Ben-Porath and Tellegen are discussed.     

Distinguishing Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) Characteristics Associated With Violent and Nonviolent Juvenile Delinquency

This study examined the relationship between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent (MMPI–A) Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) scales and violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquency. Participants were 260 adolescent boys and girls in a forensic setting. Results indicated that Disconstraint (DISC), a marker of behavioral disinhibition and impulsivity, was associated with nonviolent delinquency, whereas Aggressiveness (AGGR), which is characterized by the use of instrumental aggression and interpersonal dominance, was specifically associated with violent delinquency. These findings are consistent with expectations based on empirical findings in the broader personality literature linking the construct of disinhibition with externalizing psychopathology as well as the literature identifying callous-unemotional aggression as a risk factor for violence.     

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.     

(Hu)man versus mean revisited: MMPI group data and psychiatric diagnosis.

A meta-analysis of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) data from 403 control and psychiatric samples was used to (a) examine demographics associated with previously published MMPI studies, (b) test Goldberg's (1972) indexes for predicting normal versus deviant and neurotic versus psychotic group membership, (c) compare multiple regression, discriminant function, and logistic regression analyses commonly used to study the relation between the MMPI and diagnostic group membership, and (d) examine the signal within the MMPI as it relates to current psychiatric diagnosis. Group data were found to be efficient indicators of the relation between the MMPI and diagnosis, although efficiency is compromised by within-sample heterogeneity. The 3 statistical methods examined obtained equivalent results. Regression models related to group prediction are presented.     

Conversion equations for modified scoring of the MMPI-168

For a sample of 300 patients who had been administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the MMPI-168 was extracted from the full MMPI and scored to incorporate those items normally excluded by Form R keys. MMPI-168 correlations with the full MMPI ranged from .80 to .97 with a mean of .90, indicating satisfactory statistical validity, and modified scoring was shown to improve predictability for Pa and Sc. Using these data, substitution equations for transforming MMPI-168 raw scores to estimates of full-scale scores were calculated. These transformations did not differ greatly from those reported in previous research except on Pa and Sc, where additional items increase scale length substantially.     

Perception and the Rorschach

In this study we investigated the reliability and validity of the Rorschach Schizophrenia Index (SCZI) from Exner's (1978, 1993) Comprehensive System for a sample of 413 child psychiatric inpatients by examining relationships with the Personality Inventory for Children-Revised (PIC-R) and chart diagnoses. Interscorer reliability and internal consistency were acceptable. Multivariate analyses of variance results revealed significantly different PIC-R profiles for those with and without elevated SCZI scores, with significant differences emerging on the PIC-R Psychosis (PSY) scale and 2 cognitive triad scales (Intellectual Screening and Development), which have been reported to be more frequently elevated in PIC-R profiles of children with psychotic disorders. Significant differences were found across SCZI groups for the PSY scale, Reality Distortion scale, reality testing critical items and chart diagnoses of psychotic disorder. Implications for clinical interpretation of the SCZI with children and issues for further research with this population are discussed.     

Recent adolescent MMPI norms: T-score elevation comparisons to Marks and Briggs

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) norms developed by Marks and Briggs (1967/1972) have served as the standard adolescent norms used for over 10 years. Additional adolescent norms have recently been produced by Gottesman, Hanson, Kroeker, and Briggs (1987) and by Colligan and Offord (1989), thereby providing MMPI users with a potential choice of adolescent norms. Our study examines the effects of these adolescent norm sets on single-scale and profile elevations. In addition, we examine the ability of these norm sets to generate T-score values that would serve to discriminate accurately among adolescents in outpatient (n = 100), inpatient (n = 100), and normal (n = 100) settings. Results indicated that the choice of adolescent norms resulted in important differences in profile elevation. Findings from the discriminant function analyses, however, indicated that these normative sets were roughly equivalent in discriminating among adolescents in the three settings.     

Using the MMPI–2–RF to Discriminate Psychometrically Identified Schizotypic College Students From a Matched Comparison Sample

This study investigates the extent to which the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF) profiles of 52 individuals making up a psychometrically identified schizotypes (SZT) sample could be successfully discriminated from the protocols of 52 individuals in a matched comparison (MC) sample. Replication analyses were performed with an additional 53 pairs of SZT and MC participants. Results showed significant differences in mean T-score values between these 2 groups across a variety of MMPI–2–RF scales. Results from discriminant function analyses indicate that schizotypy can be predicted effectively using 4 MMPI–2–RF scales and that this method of classification held up on replication. Additional results demonstrated that these MMPI–2–RF scales nominally outperformed MMPI–2 scales suggested by previous research as being indicative of schizophrenia liability. Directions for future research with the MMPI–2–RF are suggested.     

A Comparison of Primary Alcoholics,Secondary Alcoholics,and Nonalcoholic Psychiatric Patients on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale

The MacAndrew Alcoholism (MAC) and Sc scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were examined in four groups of 20 male patients. Comparisons were made among primary alcoholics, secondary alcoholics (i.e., alcoholic psychiatric patients), nonalcoholic psychiatric patients (mixed diagnoses), and conservatively defined, nonalcoholic schizophrenics. Primary alcoholics scored higher on the MAC scale than did secondary alcoholics and other groups; schizophrenics scored lower than all other groups. Primary alcoholics were lower on the Sc scale than schizophrenics but did not differ from other groups. The results support MacAndrew's (1981) distinction between primary and secondary alcoholics and suggest that the MAC scale may enhance differentiation among diagnoses other than alcoholism.     

A comparison of primary alcoholics, secondary alcoholics, and nonalcoholic psychiatric patients on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale

The MacAndrew Alcoholism (MAC) and Sc scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were examined in four groups of 20 male patients. Comparisons were made among primary alcoholics, secondary alcoholics (i.e., alcoholic psychiatric patients), nonalcoholic psychiatric patients (mixed diagnoses), and conservatively defined, nonalcoholic schizophrenics. Primary alcoholics scored higher on the MAC scale than did secondary alcoholics and other groups; schizophrenics scored lower than all other groups. Primary alcoholics were lower on the Sc scale than schizophrenics but did not differ from other groups. The results support MacAndrew's (1981) distinction between primary and secondary alcoholics and suggest that the MAC scale may enhance differentiation among diagnoses other than alcoholism.     

MMPI response-set characteristics among adolescents

This study examined the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MPPI) profile characteristics for five different response sets in adolescent populations employing adolescent MMPI norms. In general, findings for "all-true" and "all-false" adolescent profiles were highly similar in shape and elevation to those reported in the adult literature (Graham, 1977; Lachar, 1974), whereas random profiles on adolescent norms differed substantially from adult-norm random profiles in shape but not elevation. The characteristics of "fake good" or "fake bad" response sets were investigated by the use of adolescent subjects in two settings. Ninety-four public high-school students were administered the MMPI with standard and "fake bad" instructions, and 24 adolescents in inpatient psychiatric treatment were administered the MMPI under standard and "fake good" instructions. The MMPI profiles generated by special instructional sets were analyzed in relation to the subject's age, sex, race, and actual MMPI profile features. Findings indicated that although sex and race effects were evident in normal adolescents' attempts to simulate psychopathology on the MMPI, teenagers generally produce profiles containing grossly exaggerated symptom patterns that are relatively easy to detect as invalid. In contrast, it was found that a substantial number of psychiatrically disturbed adolescents may effectively simulate normal profiles and that effectiveness in these attempts was related to greater age and lower actual MMPI T-score values on the Hs and Hy scales.     

Racial identity and the MMPI in African American male college students

The relation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to the Racial Identity Attitude Scale--Black, Short Form (RIAS-B) was examined among 50 African American male college students in a reanalysis of unpublished MMPI data described in R. H. Dana (1993). This permitted study of relationships between MMPI scores and specific psychological variables hypothesized to produce cultural differences among African Americans. Results indicated RIAS-B scale scores functioned as predictors of MMPI scale scores. Similar research with the MMPI-2 incorporating larger samples that more adequately represent African American heterogeneity is needed. Methodological implications of these findings for MMPI-2 research with ethnic and racial groups are discussed, emphasizing the importance of research to depathologize African American racial and cultural identity.