MMPI personality disorder scales and the MCMI: Concurrent validity

Abstract

A set of DSM-III personality disorder scales recently were developed for the MMPI. The purpose of the present investigation was to provide data on the concurrent validity of these scales. Scores from both the overlapping and nonoverlapping MMPI personality disorder scales were compared against the criterion of the personality disorder scales of the MCMI in 47 psychiatric patients. In general, the MMPI personality scales correlated significantly with the corresponding MCMI scales. However, the antisocial (ANT), compulsive (CPS), and paranoid (PAR) scales of the MMPI failed to achieve adequate concurrent validity. For the ANT scale, this probably reflects conceptual differences between the Millon (1981) typology that underlies the MCMI and the DSM-III. The PAR scale appears to show some bias toward the assessment of paranoid and suspicious ideation, rather than paranoid personality characteristics.