The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) instruments are widely taught ( Mihura et al., 2017) and frequently used in clinical and forensic assessment ( Camara et al., 2000 Wright et al., 2017). This suggests PD Spectra scale correlates, including LPF relationships, may be discernable in the newest edition of the MMPI, pending future study. The examination of the MMPI-3 item pool reveals that the existing PD Spectra scale item sets are largely carried forward in the new edition of the MMPI.
Dimensionalized Antisocial PD, Borderline PD, Dependent PD, and Paranoid PD showed meaningful association with LPF after demoralization, and maladaptive trait variances were removed. Nuanced LPF and PD Spectra scale relationships were discerned.
LPF variances within the PD Spectra scales were deconstructed using measures of general demoralization (RCdemoralization) and maladaptive personality traits indexed by the Personality Psychopathology-5 (PSY-5). This LPF dimension was strongly represented across most PD Spectra scales. By sequentially factor analyzing the scales of the Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP-118) to a common general factor of PD, an index of LPF external to the MMPI item pool was established. The core dimension of PD, Criterion A of the AMPD or level of personality functioning (LPF), was characterized quantitatively within the PD Spectra scales. To this end, we examined MMPI-Second Edition (2) and MMPI-2-Restructured Form (-RF) PD Spectra scales within the lens of a contemporary dimensional model of PDs, the alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD). Recent publications of personality disorder (PD) spectra scales for dimensionalized PD syndromes with MMPI instruments may advance PD assessment. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) instruments are frequently used to assess personality and psychopathology.
5Personality and Psychopathology Research Group, Department of Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.4Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States.3Community and Public Safety Psychiatry Division, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States.2Health Services Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, United States.1Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States.