Alcoholism scales of the MMPI: contributions and future directions

Though MMPI alcoholism scales have been constructed to provide objective information for making alcoholism diagnoses, they have not met with general acceptance. Research has been criticized since alcoholics were not clearly defined and were not subdivided into homogeneous categories. Prealcoholics were not studied and no consistent findings emerged. The present review of alcoholics and prealcoholics indicates that some scales, such as the MacAndrew, are consistent in discriminating alcoholics from controls even when alcoholics were not subdivided into homogeneous categories. These findings suggest that alcoholics have personality characteristics that distinguish them from other groups and provide psychometric justification for alcoholism diagnoses.