Replicated item level factor analysis of the full MMPI.

Conducted a comprehensive factor analysis of the full MMPI item pool using recent advances in computational facilities. Nearly 20,000 MMPI protocols were collected from 13–89 yr old psychiatric patients for the analysis; however, invalid records and protocols with more than 50 missing items were discarded. Analyses were computed on a developmental sample of 5,506 Ss and a cross-validation sample of 5,632 Ss. 21 replicated factors were found by using an orthogonal varimax solution. The rotated factors were submitted to several experts on MMPI for factor naming. The consensus obtained on the item factors suggests that this analysis provides an unambiguous picture of the major content dimensions in the MMPI item pool. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing the empirical validity of the standard form with two abbreviated MMPIs.

The standard form MMPI and 2 abbreviated forms, the MMPI-168 and the Faschingbauer Abbreviated MMPI (FAM), were compared with direct measures of psychopathology obtained from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) with 290 17–65 yr old psychiatric inpatients. Each S was interviewed using the Mental Status Schedule by one rater, while another rater observed this initial diagnostic interview behind a 1-way mirror to assess interrater reliability. Since MMPI scales contain more than 1 interpretative factor, these scales were correlated with the means of more than 1 BPRS symptom using multiple correlation coefficients. The multiple correlation coefficients between the BPRS ratings and the corresponding MMPI and abbreviated-form scales were significantly high and comparable. Only on Pd for females did a significant difference occur, with the FAM correlation being significantly higher. These findings suggest that these abbreviated forms are an accurate substitute for the standard-form MMPI in predicing objective measures of psychopathology. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Musculoskeletal status and disability of MMPI profile subgroups among patients with low back pain.

Studied Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of 362 patients with acute and chronic low back pain (LBP) for replicable homogeneous subgroups using 3 cluster-analysis procedures. Two normal and 3 clinically elevated profile subgroups were identified. The 2 normal subgroups were characterized by relatively normal musculoskeletal condition and were least disabled but differed from each other in duration of pain, presence of physical abnormalities, and daily functioning. The most pathologic profile subgroup consisted largely of acute-pain patients whose musculoskeletal condition and daily functioning were similar to those of the normal subgroups. Patients in the 3 abnormal MMPI subgroups were exposed to more LBP physical-risk factors in the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognition and psychopathology: An analysis of social introversion and self-statements.

Administered the MMPI and the Social Interaction Self-Statement Test (SISST) to 92 18–49 yr old mental health center clients as part of the intake process. Ss' self-ratings and clinicians' ratings on the degree to which shyness had been a problem for S were also obtained. Results show that the Social Introversion scale of the MMPI was the most efficient predictor of the SISST scales. Both measures were equally efficient in predicting clinicians' ratings of shyness. Findings support the notion that cognitive assessment methods may complement information obtained by traditional assessment methods. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirically derived MMPI profile clusters and characteristics of low back pain patients.

Analysis of the MMPI scores of 401 low-back-pain patients (average age 45 yrs) by a multivariate clustering procedure produced 5 homogeneous subgroups. Three groups with elevated MMPI profiles and 2 unelevated groups showed differences in age, employment, marital status, pretreatment pain intensity, and activity limitations. Follow-up comparisons at 6-mo and 1-yr intervals revealed that the elevated subgroups had a poorer response to treatment. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological and psychological factors in sleep-onset insomnia.

Compared 12 20–53 yr old sleep-onset (SO) insomniacs with 12 19–56 yr old normal sleepers on a number of laboratory measures of cognitive and physiological activity. Prior to SO, insomniacs had significantly higher levels of physiological activity than did controls. With the approach of SO, these differences diminished. No group differences in presleep cognitive activity were found. Insomniacs had significantly higher MMPI scores than controls on scales indicating neuroticism, anxiety, and worry (derived from the Hysteria, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia scales). Although SO insomnia is accompanied by psychological disturbance and heightened physiological activity, it is unlikely that either factor alone is sufficient to cause it. Excessive rumination may be an epiphenomenon of sleeplessness. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian items for the WAIS--R information subtest.

Administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R), plus Canadian replacement items for biased US items in the Information subtest, to 3 subgroups of the Canadian population (84 17–70 yr old psychiatric patients, 40 16–59 yr old forensic clients, and 20 university undergraduates). It was contended that when the 10 US items are used while testing Canadian population subgroups a cultural bias occurs. Seven acceptable substitute items were identified for all 3 subgroups. Three acceptable substitute items identified by M. S. Crawford and D. P. Boer (see record 1986-00124-001) were found unacceptable by the more stringent rank-order criteria used in this study. Methodological problems with the chi-square were found, suggesting the primary importance of the rank-order statistic in determining appropriateness of original and replacement items. Conceptual agreement with the need for WAIS—R Canadian norms was noted. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigation of the Karnofsky Performance Status as a measure of quality of life.

Inter-rater reliability of the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) was studied in Exp I, using primarily male Veteran's Administration Medical Center patients; 6 psychiatric outpatients (average age 48 yrs), alcoholic rehabilitation inpatients (average age 45 yrs), general medical inpatients (average age 62 yrs), nursing home residents (average age 74 yrs), and terminally ill patients (average age 70 yrs) were used. In Exp II, inter-rater reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity were studied, using 20 28–61 yr old normals, 20 21–65 yr old outpatients, 20 28–71 yr old pain patients, 20 21–67 yr old dialysis patients, and 20 20–66 yr old stroke patients, primarily male. Results show that the KPS was acceptably reliable and valid as a global measure but failed to capture adequately the conceptual domain of quality of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality differences between fee-paying and non-fee paying patients seen for psychological testing.

Administered the MMPI to 17 21-62 yr old male patients who did not pay their clinic bills and 17 patients who did pay their bills. MMPI and clinical data suggest greater reality disturbance and distortion for the non-fee paying group than for the fee-paying group, and that fee-payment behavior is situationally determined and not a generalized characteristic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of the pain response inventory for children.

The Pain Response Inventory (PRI) was developed as a multidimensional instrument to assess children's coping responses to recurrent pain. The PRI assesses 3 broad coping factors—Active, Passive, and Accommodative—each with subscales representing specific strategies for coping with pain. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to derive and cross-validate the factor structure of the PRI in 3 different samples of children and adolescents: 688 9–16 yr olds in general population, 120 8–18 yr old abdominal pain patients who also completed followup interviews 2-wks and 6 mo after initial interview, and 224 11–23 yr old former abdominal pain and well patients. The subscales were found to be internally consistent and reasonably stable. Validity of the subscales was assessed by examining the relations of particular coping strategies to various outcome indicators, including functional disability, somatization symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that different types of health outcome were predicted by different patterns of PRI coping strategies, thus supporting the utility of a multidimensional approach to the assessment of coping responses to pain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are special norms for minorities needed? Development of an MMPI F scale for Blacks.

As part of a large-scale investigation of the need for special MMPI norms for adult Black American test Ss, 882 normal 18–65 yr old Blacks from Alabama, Michigan, and North Carolina were tested. Item analyses of these protocols revealed 33 items that met the 10% or less endorsement criterion used to develop the MMPI F scale. Comparisons were made between White and Black endorsements of the items on this new scale, items of the standard F scale, and additional items in the MMPI pool that met the 10% criterion but were not included in the original F scale. White endorsement patterns agreed with the Blacks' F scale, but Black endorsement patterns agreed with only one third of the standard F-scale items. Further, Blacks showed comparable levels of infrequency on only 6 of the 38 supplementary F items. Although these results do not necessarily indicate that special norms for the clinical scales are necessary, the amount of difference between responses of Blacks and Whites to rarely endorsed items suggests that for Blacks, this new scale may be a more accurate measure of correlates associated with endorsement of deviant items than the standard F scale. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirically derived characteristics of psychiatric inpatients with DSM-III diagnoses of schizophreniform disorder.

165 18–50 yr old active-duty military, male, psychiatric inpatients with DSM-III diagnoses of schizophreniform disorder (n?=?71), schizophrenia (n?=?40), bipolar disorder—manic type (n?=?25), and unipolar depression (n?=?29) were compared on a variety of demographic, behavioral, and personality (MMPI) measures to determine the unique characteristics of schizophreniform disorder. Schizophreniform and schizophrenic Ss did not differ on any of the demographic or behavioral measures, but they differed significantly on the MMPI when age was controlled for by means of multivariate ANCOVA. Conversely, schizophreniform and bipolar manic Ss differed on the demographic correlates and on 1 behavioral measure (i.e., hyperactivity) but failed to differ on the MMPI. Schizophreniform and unipolar Ss, on the other hand, differed widely on all 3 sets of correlates. It is suggested that some schizophreniform patients will likely satisfy the criteria for schizophrenia if the diagnostician waits long enough (i.e., 6 mo). (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An examination of the applicability of the Substance Abuse Proclivity Scale to young adult males.

The substance abuse proclivity (SAP) scale, which was derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for use with young (16–21 yr old) males, was applied to samples of 69 young adult male substance abusers, 51 college students, 26 psychiatric outpatients, and 1,298 medical outpatients (all Ss aged 20–29 yrs). Analyses demonstrated that the validity shrinkage was very modest when the scale was applied to Ss of this older age range. The correlation between age and SAP scale score was both significant and negative for 363 independently identified substance abusers (aged 13–26 yrs), which suggests that the scale taps something more basic than the accumulated consequences of the chronic use of substances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional and personality changes following cingulotomy.

The effects of bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) lesions on emotional and personality functioning were studied. Patients undergoing cingulotomy for chronic intractable pain were assessed on the MMPI, the Profile of Mood States (POMS), cognitive tests, and pain ratings, pre- and postsurgically. Patients with intractable pain, not treated with cingulotomy, served as controls. Cingulotomy patients experienced reductions in POMS–Tension, POMS–Anger, and MMPI Scale 7 (Psychasthenia) compared with baseline and the controls. POMS–Tension was significantly correlated with attention–intention performance. The results indicate that the ACC modulates emotional experience, related to self-perceived tension, and that there is a relationship between the emotional and the attentional effects of cingulotomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sum of MMPI Scales F, 4, and 9 as a measure of aggression.

Examined the relationship between scores on the MMPI and both concurrent and prior aggression with 426 19-yr-olds from the general population. Aggression was measured through peer nominations obtained concurrently and 10 yrs earlier. Correlation and regression analysis indicated that the sum of T scores for Scales F, 4, and 9 was a valid measure of aggression. The composite was also shown to have a higher reliability than its component scales. Using an additional 283 12.9–17.1 yr old Ss from delinquent populations, it was demonstrated that the composite was an excellent discriminator between delinquent and general populations of males and females even when intelligence and social status were controlled. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of a dietary change on emotional distress.

Investigated the impact of a dietary change on the emotional state of 3 21–50 yr old females and an 18-yr-old male, using a single-S design. Ss were selected on the basis of scores on a behavioral index of metabolic imbalance and a subsequent interview. The dietary change for 3 Ss consisted of a high protein, low carbohydrate diet void of sucrose and caffeine, whereas only caffeine and sucrose were eliminated for the 4th S. The dependent variable used with the 1st S was a self-report of symptoms experienced, whereas the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Profile of Mood State (POMS) were used with the other Ss. Ss reported many symptoms and/or presented a distressed profile during baseline assessment. However, following a 2-wk dietary change symptoms declined, and the MMPI or POMS profiles reflected a more stable and less distressed individual. Results suggest that a dietary change can remediate the emotional distress exhibited by some individuals, with the type of change affecting the emotional response. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification and therapeutic effectiveness in group therapy.

Determined whether identification with members in group therapy has a relation to progress in therapy. Ss were 20 22-52 yr old clients. Change in therapy was determined by MMPI pre- and posttests and incidence of identification with a self-report apparatus. Results indicate that the incidence of identification was significantly higher for group members who showed positive change in therapy (p     

Passive avoidance in syndromes of disinhibition: Psychopathy and extraversion.

According to the physiological animal model proposed by E. E. Gorenstein and J. P. Newman (see record 1980-24372-001), psychopaths and extraverts may be characterized by a common psychological diathesis related to behavioral inhibition. One aspect of this diathesis involves deficient passive avoidance learning, which has been central to explanations of unsocialized and antisocial behavior. In 3 experiments, a passive avoidance task was completed by 90 14–18 yr old males, 40 male university students, and 40 18–50 yr old men and women. Ss were also assessed on measures including the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and MMPI. Results support the prediction that psychopaths and extraverts would exhibit deficient passive avoidance relative to nonpsychopaths and introverts, respectively. The passive avoidance deficit was particularly evident in tasks that required Ss to inhibit a rewarded response to avoid punishment. The latter finding may be important for explaining the inconsistent results regarding passive avoidance learning in psychopaths. Discussion focuses on the importance of reward in mediating the passive avoidance deficit of disinhibited individuals and on the existence of an indirect relationship between psychopathy and extraversion—one that is consistent with the observed experimental parallels as well as with the more ambiguous evidence regarding a direct correlation between measures of the 2 syndromes. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual cues and release from proactive inhibition in young and old people.

Three experiments examined whether elderly people perform similarly to Korsakoff amnesics on tests of release from proactive inhibition (PI). In Exp I, with 20 18–36 yr old undergraduates, 20 64–77 yr old university alumni, 20 employed 21–43 yr olds, and 21 institutionalized but healthy 71–92 yr olds, only the latter Ss failed to release from PI, like Korsakoff amnesics, whereas all the other groups of Ss showed the normal release from PI. Exp II, with 12 institutionalized 64–90 yr olds and 12 25–47 yr old controls, showed that release from PI could be induced in institutionalized elderly, as in Korsakoff amnesics, by salient environmental cues that coincided with the category shift. Exp III, with 13 67–89 yr old institutionalized Ss and 12 22–42 yr old controls, demonstrated that even in the absence of a category shift, salient environmental cues could lead to smaller, but noticeable, release from PI in institutionalized elderly, but not in young controls. The similarity in performance between the institutionalized elderly and Korsakoff amnesics suggested that it results from a common neurological deficit. (French abstract) (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnic comparability of the MMPI in pain patients

The MMPI basic validity and clinical scales' patterns of 295 White-, African- and Latino-American pain patients were compared. Mean group differences across ethnic groups on scales L, F, K, Mf, and Si were revealed in multivariate analysis of covariance for females, while differences across ethnic groups on scales F, K, Mf, Sc, Ma, and Si were revealed for males. In the univariate follow-up analyses of covariance, significant main effects were obtained for ethnicity along with education and (occasionally for males) duration of pain. Various high-point, two-point, and other profile patterns were examined and notable gender/ethnic group differences were found. The pattern of intercorrelations of the MMPI scales mean T scores with various demographic and clinical characteristics suggested some notable divergence across subgroups on certain correlates of the pain experience.