Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) profiles among adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity...

This study characterized Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) clinical profiles among adults presenting for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) evaluation and examined the implications of internalizing psychopathology and ADHD symptom presentation. Means, standard deviations, and elevation base rate frequencies were calculated for all MMPI-3 scales across 312 adults diagnosed with ADHD only (n = 81), ADHD and a co-occurring internalizing psychological disorder (ADHD/internal, n = 97), an internalizing psychological disorder but no ADHD (internal only, n = 108), or subjective attention complaints but no diagnosis (attention complaints only, n = 26). Analyses of variance tested for significant differences between groups, with post hoc tests for individual comparisons. Supplemental analysis compared MMPI-3 scales by ADHD presentation (inattentive vs. combined). Cognitive Complaints Scale scores were elevated across groups, including the ADHD-only and attention complaints-only groups. In contrast, elevations on the Emotional/Internalizing Dysfunction Higher Order Scale and related Restructured Clinical and Specific Problem Scales were most pronounced in the ADHD/internal and internal-only groups, both in terms of mean scores and frequency of clinically elevated profiles. This pattern suggests focal elevations on the Cognitive Complaints Scale may help distinguish attention complaints-only or ADHD-only presentations from cases characterized by prominent internalizing psychopathology. The MMPI-3 may also distinguish ADHD-predominantly inattentive from ADHD-combined presentation via elevations on specific scales of behavioral problems often observed in combined presentations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).