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Assessing Old Order Amish outpatients with the MCMI-III
Joshua J Knabb1, Ronald G Vogt
1Psychology Staff, Philhaven Hospital, Mount Gretna, PA 17064, USA. jknabb@philhaven.org
Journal of Personality Assessment
|April 26, 2011
Summary
The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) effectively differentiates Old Order Amish individuals receiving mental health treatment from those who are not. Amish outpatients showed distinct MCMI-III personality patterns compared to non-patients.
Area of Science:
- Psychological assessment
- Clinical psychology
- Cultural psychiatry
Background:
- The Old Order Amish population presents unique challenges for psychological assessment due to cultural and linguistic factors.
- The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) is a widely used personality assessment tool.
- Limited research exists on the psychometric properties of the MCMI-III within the Old Order Amish community.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) in identifying psychopathology within an Old Order Amish outpatient sample.
- To compare the MCMI-III profiles of Old Order Amish outpatients with a non-clinical Old Order Amish comparison group.
- To examine the similarity of MCMI-III profiles between Old Order Amish outpatients and a non-Amish psychiatric sample.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 166 Old Order Amish outpatients and 80 Old Order Amish individuals not receiving mental health treatment.
- Participants completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III).
- Data were graphically compared between the two Amish groups and with a non-Amish psychiatric sample from existing literature.
Main Results:
- Old Order Amish outpatients scored significantly higher than the Old Order Amish comparison group on most MCMI-III scales, with medium effect sizes.
- The MCMI-III demonstrated utility in discriminating between clinical and non-clinical Old Order Amish individuals.
- Amish outpatients' MCMI-III scores were largely comparable to those of a non-Amish psychiatric sample.
Conclusions:
- The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) appears to be a valuable instrument for personality assessment in Old Order Amish clinical populations.
- Findings suggest that the MCMI-III can help differentiate Old Order Amish individuals seeking mental health services from those not seeking treatment.
- Further research is recommended to replicate and generalize these findings across diverse Old Order Amish samples.
