Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory Alcohol Abuse and Drug Abuse scales and the identification of substance-abuse patients.

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory Alcohol- and Drug-Abuse scales in identifying known alcohol and drug abusers in a sample of 561 adult psychiatric inpatients (408 women and 153 men). Only 43% of the alcoholics and 49% of the drug abusers were identified with the recommended base rate cutoff score of 75. False-positive rates were greater than 50% for each scale, and the scales had a significant positive intercorrelation. Although this study may have some limitations regarding how substance-abuse diagnoses were determined, these findings raise questions about the validity and clinical utility of these scales. Further studies of the item composition and effectiveness of these scales, as well as comparisons with other approaches to substance abuse assessment, are indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)