Development of a three-scale MMPI: The MMPI-TRI

Abstract

A 60-item short form of the MMPI with very high content validity and items that appear on both the MMPI and MMPI-2 was developed and named the MMPI-TRI. It contains three 20-item scales--the Subjective Distress, Acting-Out, and Psychosis scales. These three scales have excellent internal consistency and sufficient independence from each other. An anxiety and depression group of patients, prison inmate group, and a schizophrenic and other psychotic group had the highest mean scores on Subjective Distress, Acting-Out, and Psychosis, respectively. Correlations with the 13 regular scales of the MMPI and MMPI-2, their content and supplementary scales, and four other psychometric instruments provided very strong evidence for validity. Norms are provided.