Personality and symptom dimensions of the MCMI-II: an item factor analysis

The self-reports of a sample of 248 male psychiatric patients on the MCMI-II (Millon, 1987) were factor analyzed at the item level. Principal components analyses with both Varimax and Direct Oblimin rotations were carried out separately on 120 personality disorder items and 51 clinical symptom items. As judged by the scree test, seven factors accounted for the personality disorder items, and five factors accounted for the symptom items. The personality disorder factors were interpreted as Schizotypal, Social Introversion vs. Extraversion, Conformity, Submissive vs. Aggressive, Antisocial, Narcissism, and Hostile Aggression. The symptom factors were hypothesized to represent Depression/Anxiety, Alcohol Dependence, Suicidal Ideation, Hypomania, and Drug Dependence. Agreement with a similar analysis of the MCMI-I was close.