Validation and extension of personality disorder spectra scales from MMPI‐2‐RF items

Abstract

ObjectivesRecent efforts have been made to develop 10 personality disorder spectra scales using items from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory‐2 Restructured Form (MMPI‐2‐RF). These scales, developed by Sellbom et al. (2018, J. Pers. Assess., 1–15), demonstrated good validity and warranted cross‐validation.MethodIn all, 97 veterans undergoing neuropsychological evaluation in a VA outpatient clinic completed the MMPI‐2‐RF and the MCMI‐III. We examined the psychometric properties of the scales and proposed additional scales based on personality constructs found in other established tests and prior versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM; APA, 2013).ResultsThe 10 original and three additional scales demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. Most of the 13 scales correlated strongly with the corresponding MCMI‐III scale, however, DSM criteria coverage was variable between scales.ConclusionThese data provide additional support for 10 personality disorder spectra scales based on MMPI‐2‐RF items and establish preliminary evidence for three additional scales. Further validation is needed in larger and diverse samples.

Criterion A of the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders in MMPI-2/RF Personality Disorder Scales

“…Dimensionalized PD scales recently have been developed for the MMPI-2 (Mulay et al, 2019) and the MMPI-2-RF (Sellbom et al, 2018). These dimensionalized scales for PD, termed Spectra scales, are receiving attention in the literature (e.g., Brown and Sellbom, 2020;Hale et al, 2020;Sellbom et al, 2020;Kremyar and Ben-Porath, 2021). This dimensionalization of PD assessment in the MMPI instruments is consistent with major initiatives in the mental health disciplines calling for dimensional models of psychopathology (Krueger et al, 2018), in PD (Hopwood et al, 2018b), and within the MMPI instruments (Sellbom, 2019).…”