A number of previous studies have delineated Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) characteristics in patients with multiple personality. To test the accuracy of the MMPI in identifying such patients, the authors blindly rated 63 MMPIs as being either multiple personality or not. The over-all hit rate for the entire sample was 71 4%, with a 68% hit rate for correctly identified patients with multiple personality These hit rates compare favorably with the hit rates in similar studies of other psychiatric disorders and further demonstrate the clinical usefulness of the MMPI in the diagnosis of multiple personality.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (3rd ed., Rev.) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
2.
BlissE. L. (1984) A symptom profile of patients with multiple personality including MMPI results. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 172, 197–202.
3.
BrassfieldP. A. (1980) A discriminative study of the dissociative states of a multiple personality. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.
4.
ConferW. N.AblesB. S. (1983) Multiple personality: Etiology, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Human Sciences Press.
5.
CoonsP. M. (1984) The differential diagnosis of multiple personality disorder: A comprehensive review. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 7, 51–67.
6.
CoonsP. M.SterneA. L. (1986) Initial and followup psychological testing on a group of patients with multiple personality disorder. Psychological Reports, 58, 43–49.
7.
DeHerreraL. J. (1976) Case study of a multiple personality. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.
8.
GaytonW. F.BurchsteadG. W.MatthewsG. R. (1986) An investigation of the utility of an MMPI posttraumatic stress disorder scale. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 42, 916–917.
9.
GraysonH. M. (1951) A psychological admission testing program and manual. Los Angeles, CA: Veterans' Administration Center Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
10.
GustonQ. L.GoodpasterW. A.SajadiC.PittsW. M.LabasseD. L.SnyderS. (1983) MMPI characteristics of the DSM-III borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Assessment, 47, 50–59.
11.
HorevitzR. P.BraunB. G. (1984) Are multiple personalities borderline? An analysis of 33 cases. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 7, 69–87.
12.
HurtS. W.ClarionJ. F.FrancisA.AbramsR.HuntH. (1985) Discriminant validity of the MMPI for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 56–61.
13.
KeaneT. M.MalloyP. F.FairbankJ. A. (1984) Empirical development of an MMPI subscale for the assessment of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 888–891.
14.
KluftR. P. (1987) First-rank symptoms as a diagnostic clue to multiple personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 293–298.
15.
LudwigA. M.BrandsmaJ. M.WilburC. B.BenfeldtF.JamesonD. H. (1972) The objective study of a multiple personality, or are four heads better than one?Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 298–310.
16.
PostR. D.CloptonJ. R.KeeferG.RosenbergD.BlythL. S.SteinM. (1986) MMPI predictors of mania among psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50, 248–256.
17.
PutnamF. W.GuroffJ. J.SilbermanE. K.BarbanL.PostR. M. (1986) The clinical phenomenology of multiple personality disorder: Review of 100 recent cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 47, 285–293.
18.
RogersR.WasliwO. E.DolmetschR. (1982) Accuracy of MMPI decision rules in establishing DSM-III diagnoses. Psychological Reports, 51, 1283–1286.
19.
SolomonR. (1983) Use of the MMPI with multiple personality patients. Psychological Reports, 53, 1004–1006.
20.
SolomonR. S.SolomonV. (1982) Differential diagnosis of the multiple personality. Psychological Reports, 51, 1187–1194.
21.
WintersK. C.WeintraubS.NealeJ. M. (1981) Validity of MMPI codetypes in identifying DSM-III schizophrenics, unipolars, and bipolars. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 486–487.
