minnesota multiphasic personality inventory minnesota multiphasic personality inventory the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (mmpi) is a standardized psychometric test of adult personality and psychopathology. psychologists and other mental health professionals use various versions of the mmpi to help develop treatment plans, assist with differential diagnosis, help answer legal questions (forensic psychology), screen job candidates during the personnel selection process, or as part of a therapeutic assessment procedure. minnesota multiphasic personality inventoryicd-9-cm94.02meshd008950 the original mmpi was developed by starke r. hathaway and j. c. mckinley, faculty of the university of minnesota, and first published by the university of minnesota press in 1943. it was replaced by an updated version, the mmpi-2, in 1989 (butcher, dahlstrom, graham, tellegen, and kaemmer). a version for adolescents, the mmpi-a, was published in 1992. an alternative version of the test, the mmpi-2 restructured form (mmpi-2-rf), published in 2008, retains some aspects of the traditional mmpi assessment strategy, but adopts a different theoretical approach to personality test development. the newest version (mmpi-3) was released in 2020. history the original authors of the mmpi were american psychologist starke r. hathaway and american neurologist j. c. mckinley. the mmpi is copyrighted by the university of minnesota. the mmpi was designed as an adult measure of psychopathology and personality structure in 1939. many additions and changes to the measure have been made over time to improve interpretability of the original clinical scales. additionally, there have been changes in the number of items in the measure, and other adjustments which reflect its current use as a tool towards modern psychopathy and personality disorders. the most historically significant developmental changes include: in 1989, the mmpi became the mmpi-2 as a result of a restandardization project to develop a new set of normative data representing current population characteristics; the restandardization increased the size of the normative database to include a wide range of clinical and non-clinical samples; psychometric characteristics of the clinical scales were not addressed at that time. in 2003, the restructured clinical scales were added to the published mmpi-2, representing a reconstruction of the original clinical scales designed to address known psychometric flaws in the original clinical scales that unnecessarily complicated their interpretability and validity, but could not be addressed at the same time as the restandardization process. specifically, demoralization – a non-specific distress component thought to impair the discriminant validity of many self-report measures of psychopathology – was identified and removed from the original clinical scales. restructuring the clinical scales was the initial step toward addressing the remaining psychometric and theoretical problems of the mmpi-2. in 2008, the mmpi-2-rf (restructured form) was published to psychometrically and theoretically fine-tuned the measure. the mmpi-2-rf contains 338 items, contains 9 validity and 42 homogeneous substantive scales, and allows for a straightforward interpretation strategy. the mmpi-2-rf was constructed using a similar rationale used to create the restructured clinical (rc) scales. the rest of the measure was developed utilizing statistical analysis techniques that produced the rc scales as well as a hierarchical set of scales similar to contemporary models of psychopathology to inform the overall measure reorganization. the entire measure reconstruction was accomplished using the original 567 items contained in the mmpi-2 item pool. the mmpi-2 restandardization norms were used to validate the mmpi-2-rf; over 53,000 correlations based on more than 600 reference criteria are available in the mmpi-2-rf technical manual for the purpose of comparing the validity and reliability of mmpi-2-rf scales with those of the mmpi-2. across multiple studies and as supported in the technical manual, the mmpi-2-rf performs as good as or, in many cases, better than the mmpi-2. the mmpi-2-rf is a streamlined measure. retaining only 338 of the original 567 items, its hierarchical scale structure provides non-redundant information across 51 scales that are easily interpretable. validity scales were retained (revised), two new validity scales have been added (fs in 2008 and rbs in 2011), and there are new scales that capture somatic complaints. all of the mmpi-2-rf's scales demonstrate either increased or equivalent construct and criterion validity compared to their mmpi-2 counterparts. current versions of the test (mmpi-2 and mmpi-2-rf) can be completed on optical scan forms or administered directly to individuals on the computer. the mmpi-2 can generate a score report or an extended score report, which includes the restructured clinical scales from which the restructured form was later developed. the mmpi-2 extended score report includes scores on the original clinical scales as well as content, supplementary, and other subscales of potential interest to clinicians. additionally, the mmpi-2-rf computer scoring offers an option for the administrator to select a specific reference group with which to contrast and compare an individual's obtained scores; comparison groups include clinical, non-clinical, medical, forensic, and pre-employment settings, to name a few. the newest version of the pearson q-local computer scoring program offers the option of converting mmpi-2 data into mmpi-2-rf reports as well as numerous other new features. use of the mmpi is tightly controlled. any clinician using the mmpi is required to meet specific test publisher requirements in terms of training and experience, must pay for all administration materials including the annual computer scoring license and is charged for each report generated by computer. in 2018, the university of minnesota press commissioned development of the mmpi-3, which was to be based in part on the mmpi-2-rf and include updated normative data. it was published in december 2020. mmpi the original mmpi was developed on a scale-by-scale basis in the late 1930s and early 1940s. hathaway and mckinley used an empirical keying approach, with clinical scales derived by selecting items that were endorsed by patients known to have been diagnosed with certain pathologies. the difference between this approach and other test development strategies used around that time was that it was in many ways atheoretical (not based on any particular theory) and thus the initial test was not aligned with the prevailing psychodynamic theories. theory in some ways affected the development process, if only because the candidate test items and patient groups on which scales were developed were affected by prevailing personality and psychopathological theories of the time. the approach to mmpi development ostensibly enabled the test to capture aspects of human psychopathology that were recognizable and meaningful, despite changes in clinical theories. however, the mmpi had flaws of validity that were soon apparent and could not be overlooked indefinitely. the control group for its original testing consisted of a small number of individuals, mostly young, white, and married men and women from rural areas of the midwest. (the racial makeup of the respondents reflected the ethnic makeup of that time and place.) the mmpi also faced problems as to its terminology and its irrelevance to the population that the test was intended to measure. it became necessary for the mmpi to measure a more diverse number of potential mental health problems, such as "suicidal tendencies, drug abuse, and treatment-related behaviors." mmpi-2 the first major revision of the mmpi was the mmpi-2, which was standardized on a new national sample of adults in the united states and released in 1989. the new standardization was based on 2,600 individuals from a more representative background than the mmpi. it is appropriate for use with adults 18 and over. subsequent revisions of certain test elements have been published, and a wide variety of sub scales were introduced over many years to help clinicians interpret the results of the original 10 clinical scales. the current mmpi-2 has 567 items, and usually takes between one and two hours to complete depending on reading level. it is designed to require a sixth-grade reading level. there is an infrequently used abbreviated form of the test that consists of the mmpi-2's first 370 items. the shorter version has been mainly used in circumstances that have not allowed the full version to be completed (e.g., illness or time pressure), but the scores available on the shorter version are not as extensive as those available in the 567-item version. the original form of the mmpi-2 is the third most frequently utilized test in the field of psychology, behind the most used iq and achievement tests. mmpi-a a version of the test designed for adolescents ages 14 to 18, the mmpi-a, was released in 1992. the youth version was developed to improve measurement of personality, behavior difficulties, and psychopathology among adolescents. it addressed limitations of using the original mmpi among adolescent populations. twelve- to thirteen-year-old children were assessed and could not adequately understand the question content so the mmpi-a is not meant for children younger than 14. children who are 18 and no longer in high school may appropriately be tested with the mmpi-2. some concerns related to use of the mmpi with youth included inadequate item content, lack of appropriate norms, and problems with extreme reporting. for example, many items were written from an adult perspective, and did not cover content critical to adolescents (e.g., peers, school). likewise, adolescent norms were not published until the 1970s, and there was not consensus on whether adult or adolescent norms should be used when the instrument was administered to youth. finally, the use of adult norms tended to overpathologize adolescents, who demonstrated elevations on most original mmpi scales (e.g., t scores greater than 70 on the f validity scale; marked elevations on clinical scales 8 and 9). therefore, an adolescent version was developed and tested during the restandardization process of the mmpi, which resulted in the mmpi-a. the mmpi-a has 478 items. it includes the original 10 clinical scales (hs, d, hy, pd, mf, pa, pt, sc, ma, si), six validity scales (?, l, f, f1, f2, k, vrin, trin), 31 harris lingoes subscales, 15 content component scales (a-anx, a-obs, a-dep, a-hea, a-ain, a-biz, a-ang, a-cyn, a-con, a-lse, a-las, a-sod, a-fam, a-sch, a-trt), the personality psychopathology five (psy-5) scales (aggr, psyc, disc, nege, intr), three social introversion subscales (shyness/self-consciousness, social avoidance, alienation), and six supplementary scales (a, r, mac-r, ack, pro, imm). there is also a short form of 350 items, which covers the basic scales (validity and clinical scales). the validity, clinical, content, and supplementary scales of the mmpi-a have demonstrated adequate to strong test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and validity. a four factor model (similar to all of the mmpi instruments) was chosen for the mmpi-a and included general maladjustment, over-control (repression) (l, k, ma), si (social introversion), mf (masculine/feminine). the mmpi-a normative and clinical samples included 805 males and 815 females, ages 14 to 18, recruited from eight schools across the united states and 420 males and 293 females ages 14 to 18 recruited from treatment facilities in minneapolis, minnesota, respectively. norms were prepared by standardizing raw scores using a uniform t-score transformation, which was developed by auke tellegen and adopted for the mmpi-2. this technique preserves the positive skew of scores but also allows percentile comparison. strengths of the mmpi-a include the use of adolescent norms, appropriate and relevant item content, inclusion of a shortened version, a clear and comprehensive manual, and strong evidence of validity. critiques of the mmpi-a include a non-representative clinical norms sample, overlap in what the clinical scales measure, irrelevance of the mf scale, as well as long length and high reading level of the instrument. the mmpi-a is one of the most commonly used instruments among adolescent populations. a restructured form of the mmpi-a, the mmpi-a-rf was published in 2016. mmpi-2-rf the university of minnesota press published a new version of the mmpi-2, the mmpi-2 restructured form (mmpi-2-rf), in 2008. the mmpi-2-rf builds on the restructured clinical (rc) scales developed in 2003, and subsequently subjected to extensive research, with an overriding goal of improved discriminant validity, or the ability of the test to reliably differentiate between clinical syndromes or diagnoses. most of the mmpi and mmpi-2 clinical scales are relatively heterogeneous, i.e., they measure diverse groupings of signs and symptoms, such that an elevation on scale 2 (depression), for example, may or may not indicate a depressive disorder. the mmpi-2-rf scales, on the other hand, are fairly homogeneous; are designed to more precisely measure distinct symptom constellations or disorders. from a theoretical perspective, the mmpi-2-rf scales rest on an assumption that psychopathology is a homogeneous condition that is additive. advances in psychometric theory, test development methods, and statistical analyses used to develop the mmpi-2-rf were not available