Abstract
Scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-168 item version were examined during periods of clinical remission and of psychosis for recent-onset schizophrenia patients (n = 19) and at comparable time intervals for demographically matched normal participants (n = 19). To determine diagnostic specificity, MMPIs for participants with bipolar affective disorder in remission (n = 12) were also examined. Methods for distinguishing between stable vulnerability indicators, mediating vulnerability factors and episode indicators of psychopathology were adapted from Nuechterlein and Dawson (1984). MMPI scales Pa, Sc and validity scale F showed a combination of trait and state qualities, characteristic of mediating vulnerability factors. These scales reflect changes that occur during psychotic episodes but also apparently tap personality characteristics that endure into periods of clinical remission. Unexpectedly, some MMPI scales that are not typically associated with psychotic disorders (i.e. Hs, D, and Hy) were significantly higher in schizophrenia patients across psychotic and clinically remitted states than in normal participants. In clinical remission, higher scores on scales Hs, D and Hy, showed some specificity to schizophrenia relative to bipolar disorder. While MMPI-168 scales Pd and Pt fit the pattern for vulnerability indicators, it was uncertain whether they belonged to the 'stable' versus 'mediating' subtype. MMPI scores that continue to be higher in remission than in a normal sample may reflect either enduring vulnerability factors or the impact of schizophrenia and the individuals' attempts to cope with the disorder. Studies of first-degree relatives will be needed to provide converging evidence that certain personality characteristics reflect genetic predisposition to schizophrenia.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 275-284 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Psychiatric Research |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 May 1999 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to thank the UCLA Aftercare Research Program patients who participated in the research. We also acknowledge the expert assistance of Sun Hwang, M.S., M.P.H., Jim Mintz, Ph.D. and Lily Chen, B.S. at the Methodology and Statistical Support Unit of the Center for Research on Treatment and Rehabilitation of Psychosis at the University of California, Los Angeles. Thanks to the clinicians and staff who helped to obtain the symptom ratings and MMPI data: Craig Childress, M.A., Rhonda Daily, Sally Friedlob, M.S.W., Debbie Gioia-Hasick, M.S.W., Portia Loughman, B.A., David Lukoff, Ph.D., David Miklowitz, Ph.D., Sandra Rappe, M.S.W., Mitchell Stoddard, Ph.D., Margie Stratton, M.S.W., Joseph Tietz, Ph.D., Joseph Ventura, Ph.D., and Kenneth Zaucha, Ph.D. We thank Michael Gitlin, M.D., David Fogelson, M.D., and George Bartzokis, M.D., for psychiatric supervision of these patients. We are thankful for the consultation by Alex Caldwell, Ph.D., of Caldwell Report, in establishing the MMPI validity criteria used in this paper. This research was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grants MH37705 and MH30911.
Funding
We would like to thank the UCLA Aftercare Research Program patients who participated in the research. We also acknowledge the expert assistance of Sun Hwang, M.S., M.P.H., Jim Mintz, Ph.D. and Lily Chen, B.S. at the Methodology and Statistical Support Unit of the Center for Research on Treatment and Rehabilitation of Psychosis at the University of California, Los Angeles. Thanks to the clinicians and staff who helped to obtain the symptom ratings and MMPI data: Craig Childress, M.A., Rhonda Daily, Sally Friedlob, M.S.W., Debbie Gioia-Hasick, M.S.W., Portia Loughman, B.A., David Lukoff, Ph.D., David Miklowitz, Ph.D., Sandra Rappe, M.S.W., Mitchell Stoddard, Ph.D., Margie Stratton, M.S.W., Joseph Tietz, Ph.D., Joseph Ventura, Ph.D., and Kenneth Zaucha, Ph.D. We thank Michael Gitlin, M.D., David Fogelson, M.D., and George Bartzokis, M.D., for psychiatric supervision of these patients. We are thankful for the consultation by Alex Caldwell, Ph.D., of Caldwell Report, in establishing the MMPI validity criteria used in this paper. This research was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grants MH37705 and MH30911.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institute of Mental Health | MH37705, P50MH030911 |
