Characteristics of DSM-III borderline MMPI profiles

Examined the distinction between the MMPI mean profile (8-4-2) obtained for a sample of 27 psychiatric inpatients diagnosed as borderline on the basis of DSM-III criteria, and the actual frequency distribution of scale elevations and code-types within the sample. Results of this study support the findings of previous investigations of a peak on scale 8, but suggest that the heterogeneity of this population will probably preclude the specification of any two- or three-point code type which would be obtained by even a sizable minority of a given sample.     

Age and MMPI indices of schizophrenia

Assessed the generalizability of empirically derived MMPI criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia with an older sample of hospitalized patients (N = 65). The criterion diagnosis was established through the use of a standardized structured interview and a diagnostic system for schizophrenia based on the use of discriminant function analysis. Results were quite disappointing because only 22% of the sample obtained an MMPI profile that fit the above criteria.     

MMPI correlates of affective disorders

Compared 24 unipolar depressives with 24 chronic intermittent depressives on the MMPI. The mean profiles did not differ significantly. However, an MMPI clinician was able to sort the profiles, at an above-chance level, into two groups. The rules for such classification are stated. The results are contrasted with the findings of significant differences between unipolar and bipolar depressives. The hypothesis is offered that unipolar and chronic depressives may not differ on severity of symptomatology.     

Utility of MMPI indices of schizophrenia with adolescents

Assessed the utility of empirically derived MMPI criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia with a sample of hospitalized adolescent patients (N = 89). The criterion diagnosis was established through the use of a standardized structured interview and a diagnostic system for schizophrenia based on the use of discriminant function analysis. Results were quite disappointing because only 23% of the sample obtained an MMPI profile that fit the above criteria.     

Methodological variations in the use of the MMPI for diagnosis of borderline personality disorder among alcoholics

Methodological variations in the scoring and interpretation of the MMPI and their effects on discrimination between borderline and non-borderline personality disordered alcoholics were investigated. Subjects were 49 male and female inpatient alcoholics in an Icelandic psychiatric hospital. Gunderson's Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test were used to diagnose borderline personality disorder and alcoholism, respectively. Scoring and interpretation of the MMPI were varied in terms of the use and non-use of high F-scale profiles, and their impact on the frequency of various code types among borderline and non-borderline personality disordered alcoholics was considered. It was found that such methodological variations do not affect the frequency of some profile types, and, consequently, the discrimination between the diagnostic groups. Studies and coding systems should consider methodological variations in the scoring and interpretation of MMPI profiles and their consequent effects on diagnosis.     

Relationship between the Luscher Color Test and the MMPI

Administered the short form of the Luscher Color Test and the booklet form of the MMPI to 42 graduate students in a counseling program. For every S a report that described personality was written from the test results, i.e., each S had two reports, one from the Color Test and one from the MMPI. These reports were written independently by two separate examiners. Two independent raters then read the reports on each S and noted the degree of agreement between the two reports. The overall results showed very little agreement between the Color Test and the MMPI. Reasons for the poor rate of agreement are discussed.     

Relationship of scores on the Escapism Scale of the MMPI to escape from minimum security federal custody

Investigated the ability of the Escapism (Ec) scale of the MMPI to differentiate between escape and non-escape minimum security federal prisoners. At the .05 level there was no difference between the scores of the two groups on the Ec scale or on comparisons of other correctional data, age, and ethnic composition. It appears that the Ec scale alone or in combination with other data will be a poor predictor of escape. Also, the rate of escape was so low as to make accurate prediction from any criteria extremely unlikely.     

Validation of a brain-damage vs. schizophrenia MMPI key.

Since neuropsychologic tests largely have failed to separate schizophrenic from brain-damaged patients, an MMPI key was constructed to make such a separation. When cross-validated, this key provided a 76% correct separation and achi2 significant beyond the .001 level for 50 schizophrenic and 50 brain-damaged profiles. Neuropsychologic tests should be used to separate normals from brain-damaged patients and the MMPI to separate schizophrenic from brain-damaged patients.     

Screening for borderline personality disorders with the MMPI-168

Investigated the possible use of the MMPI-168 as a screening instrument for identifying individuals (N = 27) with DSM III diagnosed borderline personality disorder. Using previously reported percentile norms for bright young college graduates as a reference, borderline patients as a group fell above the 98th percentile on the F, Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, Psychasthenia and Schizophrenia scales, as well as the general psychopathology scale (PSY). Additionally, the borderline sample's mean score on the Paranoia scale was above the 95th percentile, and the mean Social Introversion scale was above the 90th percentile. Almost equally distinguishing was the finding that the mean K scale score for the borderline sample fell as low as the 8th percentile for the normative college sample. These results demonstrate that the MMPI-168 response pattern of borderline patients was clearly distinguishable from the great majority of college graduates.     

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome: Implications of microdeletion 22q11 for schizophrenia and mood disorders

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS) is a congenital malformation syndrome with variable phenotypic features that has been associated with chromosomal microdeletion 22q11.2. Psychiatric disorders have been reported to be highly prevalent in individuals with this syndrome, and the objective of this study was to assess the nature and extent of psychopathology among individuals with VCFS. We studied 20 children and adolescents with 22q11 deletions determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Control subjects were 11 nondeleted siblings who were the closest age match to the affected subjects. Both affected and control subjects were assessed using two standardized psychiatric research instruments. The results of this study confirmed the high rate of psychiatric disorders among VCFS subjects (60% of our subjects). Of the specific types of disorders, only mood disorders were significantly more common among VCFS subjects compared to sibling controls, with eight VCFS subjects having mood disorders compared with none of the control subjects (P<0.02). Three affected subjects had schizotypal traits comorbid with a mood disorder. In addition, disruptive behavior disorders were frequently diagnosed among VCFS subjects. Using a dimensional measure of psychopathology, significant differences between VCFS subjects and sibling controls were found on three scales: ADHD (P<0.02), separation anxiety (P<0.02), and depression (P<0.01). VCFS subjects were achieving significantly less well academically and requiring significantly more special educational assistance than sibling controls. Follow-up data were available on two subjects, both of whom had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Further research on psychopathology in VCFS may provide a model of how a specific genetic defect can lead to the development of psychiatric disorders.     

慢性分裂症患者院内综合康复措施干预前后MMPI测查分析

目的探讨院内综合康复措施对慢性分裂症患者人格特征的影响。方法将入组80例慢性分裂症患者随机分为两组进行6个月治疗,康复组使用院内综合康复措施干预配合抗精神病药物治疗,对照组仅使用抗精神病药物治疗,治疗前后分别测查明尼苏达多项人格问卷（MMPI）并统计分析。结果经半年的单纯药物治疗和药物治疗配合院内综合康复措施干预,除L分、Mf分、Pa分外,两组MMPI各项量表t分治疗前后差异有显著性,康复组中Hs、Pt、Sc、Si量表治疗后t分变化与对照组差异有显著性。结论院内综合康复措施干预对矫正慢性分裂症某些不良人格有一定作用。     

Relationship of aluminosilicates to CNS degenerative disorders

Aluminosilicates may have a possible role in the etiology of some of CNS degenerative disorders. Expanded and more comprehensive investigations are needed to begin to understand the mechanism(s) which may be involved.     

Relationship between the Mini-Mult and the MMPI with medical patients.

The correspondence between the MMPI and a shortened version of the MMPI, the Mini-Mult, was examined with 50 male and 50 female medical outpatients. The results indicated that the individual scales of the Mini-Mult produced results highly similar to those produced by the standard MMPI scales. As a screening device in a medical setting, the Mini-Mult appears to be a farily accurate substitute for the MMPI.     

Relationship of scales of schizophrenia proneness and premorbid adjustment to thinking deficits in schizophrenia

Scales of premorbid adjustment, which generally rely very heavily upon assessment of premorbid social functioning, long have been known to predict some forms of thinking disorder in schizophrenia. Several scales theorized to detect schizophrenia proneness were compared to the Phillips Scale of Premorbid Adjustment to determine whether the characteristics measured by the proneness scales might underlie the predictive power of premorbid social functioning. In a sample of 48 schizophrenics, only the Phillips Scale predicted performance on the Gorham's Proverb Test. These data give no evidence that anhedonia, ambivalence, or perceptual aberration underlie defective schizophrenic social functioning. Cautions and other uses for the schizophrenia proneness scales are discussed.     

Remediation of memory disorders in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Memory deficits are commonly experienced by patients with schizophrenia, often persist even after effective psychotropic treatment of psychotic symptoms and have been demonstrated to interfere with many aspects of successful psychiatric rehabilitation. Because of significant impact on functional outcome, effective remediation of cognitive deficits has been increasingly cited as an essential component of comprehensive treatment. Efforts to remediate memory deficits have met with circumscribed success, leaving uncertain whether schizophrenia patients can be taught, without experimental induction, independently to employ semantic encoding or a range of other mnemonic techniques. METHOD: We examined the feasibility of using memory and problem solving teaching techniques developed within educational psychology--techniques which promote intrinsic motivation and task engagement through contextualization and personalization of learning activities--to remediate memory deficits in a group of in-patients with chronic schizophrenia spectrum disorders. RESULTS: Although our memory remediation group significantly improved on the memory remediation task, they did not make greater gains on measures of immediate paragraph recall or list learning than the control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted remediation of memory appears to yield task specific improvement but the gains do not generalize to other memory tasks. Subjects receiving memory remediation failed to independently activate mnemonic encoding strategies learned and used successfully within training tasks to other general measures of verbal learning and memory.     

MMPI correlates of clinical women who report early sexual abuse

It was predicted from Freud's seduction theory that women who experienced sexual assault early in life would be identifiable by the MMPI. Twenty-six of 51 women treated at a psychotherapy clinic during a 2-year period reported experiencing sexual abuse as a child (RA); 25 made no such claim (NRA). Age, income level, years of formal education, marital status, and k-corrected scores of the MMPI were submitted to a stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis. It was found that the HY, MF, HS, and PD scales constituted a linear function that correctly classified 72.55% of the subjects (Wilkes Lambda = .670785, df 4, p = .0009). These scales correctly identified 73.1% of the RA and 72.0% of the NRA clients.