Abstract
For more than 60 years it has been known that profiles from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), obtained from medical patients, are elevated when scores are plotted using general population norms. These elevations have been most apparent on the neurotic triad (NTd), the first 3 clinical scales on the MMPI profile. More than 45 years have passed since a nonreferred, normative sample of MMPIs was established from 50,000 consecutive medical outpatients. We present comparable but contemporary normative data for the revised MMPI (MMPI-2) based on a nonreferred sample of 1,243 family medicine outpatients (590 women; 653 men). As true for the original MMPI, contemporary medical outpatients have profiles that are significantly different, clinically and statistically, from the general population norms for the MMPI-2. This is particularly evident in elevations on the NTd. New normative tables of uniform medical T (UMT) scores were developed following the procedures used to create the uniform T scores for the MMPI-2. Measures of internal consistency are reported; test-retest reliability was established over a mean of 3.7 weeks, and results characterizing the stability of the validity and clinical scales are presented.
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Acknowledgments
We express appreciation to our colleagues who provided administrative support, technical assistance, and statistical expertise: Ann Harris, Libby Hammond, Kathlyn Tucke, Holly Foster, Donna Schultz, Randall Vrabel, Julie Stamschror, Amy Ratzloff, Douglas Meine, Kevin Drossel, Jerry Lobland, David Daugherty, MD, Gabrielle Melin, MD, Christine Boos, Susanna Stevens, James Naessens, Stephanie Anderson, Lisa Oeltjen, Christine Nerland, Peggy Chihak, Melanie Nelson, Tracy Pietrzak, and Jacqueline Goetzman. We also thank our external expert panel (Roger Greene, PhD, David Nichols, PhD, Robert Archer, PhD, and David Osborne, PhD) and Toshihiko Maruta, MD, PhD, Eric Milliner, MD, and Jarrett Richardson, MD, for assistance in summarizing the psychoanalytic concepts related to the psychoneuroses and the Section of Scientific Publications, Mayo Clinic, for editing, proofreading, and reference verification. Finally, we thank the Clinical Research Subcommittee of Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation and the Research Committees of the Department of Family Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology for the financial support enabling us to complete this research project.
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Colligan, R.C., Rasmussen, N.H., Agerter, D.C. et al. The MMPI-2: A Contemporary Normative Study of Midwestern Family Medicine Outpatients. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 15, 98–119 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-008-9113-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-008-9113-z