MAC Andrew Alcoholism Scale and Repression: Detection of False Negatives,a Failure to Replicate

Abstract

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) data from 400 male inpatients who met DSM III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) criteria for substance abuse and dependence and 20 male nonsubstance abusive psychiatric inpatients were evaluated in light of earlier findings by Cernovsky (1985). Cernovsky found that for the MMPI MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) false negatives are characterized by higher Repression scale scores than true positives and nonsubstance abusing psychiatric patients and suggests that the low MAC/high R sign may be useful in detecting false negatives. This study did not replicate some of Cernovsky's findings but identified stable personality correlates that differentiate false negatives from true positives. The latter suggests a homogeneous subgroup within the substance-dependent population.