Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

The original MMPI was developed at the University of Minnesota and introduced in 1942. The current standardized version for adults 18 and over, the MMPI-2, was released in 1989, with a subsequent revision of certain test elements in early 2001. The MMPI-2 has 567 items, or questions, and takes approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete. There is a short form of the test that is comprised of the first 370 items on the long-form MMPI-2. There is also a version of the inventory for adolescents age 14 to 18, the MMPI-A. URL:http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/minnesota_multiphasic_personality_inventory_mmpi-2.jsp

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most frequently used test in the mental health fields. This assessment or test helps identify personal, social, and behavioral problems in psychiatric patients. This test helps provide relevant information to aid in problem identification, diagnosis, and treatment planning for the patient.

The MMPI has many uses including

• Criminal Justice and Corrections
• Evaluation of disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression and schizophrenia
• Identification of suitable candidates for high-risk public safety positions such as nuclear power plant workers, police officers, airline pilots, medical and psychology students, firefighters and seminary students
• Assessment of medical patients and design of effective treatment strategies, including chronic pain management
• Evaluation of participants in substance abuse programs
• Support for college and career counseling
• Marriage and family counseling

The original authors of the MMPI were Starke R. Hathaway, PhD, and J. C. McKinley, MD. They were on the faculty of the University of Minnesota Hospitals when the MMPI instrument was first published in 1942.

The MMPI is copyrighted and clinicians must pay a fee each time it is administered.

External links

• Pearson Assessments: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2
• MMPI-A (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent)
• Test interpretation and description of scales (pdf)
• MMPI Research Project
• MMPI: All You Wanted to Know About It
• INTRODUCTION: The MMPI is the most frequently used clinical test
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Home Page