The Histrionic–Obsessive Couple
Len Sperry, Katherine Helm, Jon Carlson in The Disordered Couple, 2019
The routine use of a self-rating measure of relational functioning, like the Dyadic Adjustment Scale or the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised, is common in couples work, particularly with disordered couples. Unique among standardized personality inventories is the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-IV) with its focus on personality styles and disorders. This inventory can be “extremely useful in arriving at hypotheses about the personality structure and interactive pattern of the underlying immediate conflicts, overt anxiety, and depressive, or acting-out, features that partners present within couples therapy” (Nurse & Sperry, 2012, p. 61). It not only helps differentiates personality style from disorder; the computer-generated report can also be quite helpful in suggesting treatment strategies and options. MCMI0-IV is the only standardized personality inventory that experienced clinicians we know routinely use with couples in therapy.
Personality Disorders
John C. Gunn, Pamela J. Taylor in Forensic Psychiatry, 2014
The widespread use of questionnaires, often in the context of legal situations such as Mental Health Review Tribunals, has tended to foster an acceptance of the reliability and validity of these instruments which outstrips the scientific data. This is unsurprising, given that they are easy to use and, in providing a quickly obtainable quantitative estimate of personality function or dysfunction, they seem to add objectivity to assessment reports. Well known examples include the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, 3rd Edition (MCMIIII™, Millon, 2009), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Personality Disorder Scales (MMPI-II-PD, Morey et al., 1985), the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI, Morey, 1991) and the Personality Disorder Questionnaire 4+ (PDQ4+ Hyler, 1994; Hyler et al., 1990). Of these, the MCMIIII purports to assess both DSM-IV categories and also patients’ overall personality profile based on Millon’s own, evolutionary based, theory of general psychopathology. The MMPI-PD and PAI are confined to the assessment of the categorical descriptors of DSM-IV. The PDQ4+ is a useful screening tool among prisoners (Davidson et al., 2001).
Deception and Psychosis
Harold V. Hall, Joseph G. Poirier in Detecting Malingering and Deception, 2020
MCMI (Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory)—Fourth Edition (Millon, Grossman, & Millon, 2015.) The personality instrument based on Millon’s evolutionary personality theory. Self-administering, true/false format with an administration time of about 30–40 minutes. The MCMI was designed to provide data regarding personality traits and general psychopathology. The test is designed around several categories: Personality Patterns; Clinical Syndromes; Validity Scales; Modifying Indices; Random Response Indicators; and Grossman Personality Facet Scales. The instrument’s design has specific limitations and clinicians should adhere to the intended usage.
The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV (MCMI-IV) and Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory-II (MACI-II) in Legal Settings
Published in Journal of Personality Assessment, 2022
Martin Sellbom, Jay Flens, Jonathan Gould, Rowena Ramnath, Robert Tringone, Seth Grossman
Opinions regarding the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in its four editions run the gamut between praise and condemnation. The MCMI-III, for example, received such widely-divergent characterizations as psychometrically “the most sophisticated of any available product” (Retzlaff, 1998, p. 667) to a notorious Rogers et al. (1999) critique, which lambasted the same edition as failing to meet even basic criteria of psychometric soundness, much less the taller order of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993) criteria for admissibility into court testimony. Most critiques and, indeed, widespread opinion, appear to largely agree with the mixed Reynolds (1992) perspective on the MCMI-II as “a conceptual gem and psychometrically somewhere between a nightmare and an enigma.” Based on the same theory and maintaining a parallel structure, the MACI, while not as prone to as strong opinions, likely inspires similar wide-ranging critiques as well. In this article, we strive to capture the diversity of viewpoints in as balanced a fashion as the literature permits, and highlight the unique contribution of the Millon lens against current critiques and limitations inherent in its theoretical-empirical framework.
Further Examining the Construct Validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Personality Disorder Spectra Scales
Published in Journal of Personality Assessment, 2021
Andrew J. Kremyar, Yossef S. Ben-Porath
Accurate assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders (PDs) is vital owing to the particularly debilitating impact of the disorders on emotional, interpersonal, and psychosocial well-being (Ansell et al., 2007; Skodol, 2008). Guidelines for conducting empirically-based assessments of PDs in clinical settings recommend administering a self-report measure to detect potential personality pathology, followed by a semi-structured interview to corroborate the presence of a PD (Widiger & Samuel, 2005). To this end, several self-report instruments designed specifically to assess diagnostic features of various PDs have been developed and validated. Among these are the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV (MCMI-IV; Millon et al., 2015), the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 (PDQ-4; Hyler, 1994) and Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality-2 (SNAP-2; Clark et al., 2008). These measures tend to be lengthy, limiting their clinical utility when assessments need to focus more broadly than only on PDs. An alternative that can address these concerns, is to assess for PD features with commonly used broadband instruments that do not focus exclusively on PDs.
The MCMI-IV: A New Normal Quartet for Parental Fitness Litigants
Published in Journal of Personality Assessment, 2022
Shiloh M. Eastin, David R. Brandwein, Donald R. Marks, Rachel Safran, Keri Giordano
Theodore Millon’s theory of personality contributes to psychology’s growing theories of personality (Pincus & Krueger, 2015). Millon also utilized his personality theory as the foundation in a series of personality measures beginning in 1972 with Millon Illinois Self-Report Inventory (MISRI; Choca & Grossman, 2015) culminating in the most recent edition, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory – Fourth Edition (MCMI-IV; Choca & Grossman, 2015; Millon et al., 2015). Millon’s involvement with the development of multiple editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) led to his incorporating diagnostic criteria in test items, the creation of psychopathology scales, and inclusion of clinical treatment goals (APA, 2000; Choca & Grossman, 2015; Millon, 2011). The MCMI-IV incorporates changes to diagnostic criteria to the newest edition of the DSM (DSM-5; APA, 2013). Personality traits are now measured on a continuum (scores falling into the following categories: style – type – disorder; e.g., Apathetic → Asocial → Schizoid) with higher scores indicating the presence of pathological or maladaptive traits (Choca & Grossman, 2015) and a new clinical personality scale was added (Turbulent – 4B; Millon et al., 2015). On the adaptive end of the Turbulent (4B) continuum, traits are reflective of a well-adjusted individual who engages in goal-directed behaviors (Millon et al., 2015). At the maladaptive end, traits include hypomania, emotional volatility, and increased interpersonal difficulties (Millon et al., 2015).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology
- Psychological Evaluation
- Mental Disorder
- Validity
- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
- Multiple Choice
- Computer-Based Test Interpretation In Psychological Assessment
- Self-Report Inventory
- Personality Assessment Inventory