Brief Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scales to screen for substance abuse

Research has focused on development of accurate screening instruments to detect alcoholism. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has long been employed, but the utility of previous scales in differentiating substance abusers from normals remains unclear. Conley and Kammeier (J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 48 (1980) 665) identified seven MMPI items which appeared to be specific to alcoholism. In a replication attempt, this study compared MMPI's for 1403 male and 323 female job applicants and 228 male and 76 female chemical dependency inpatients. MMPI items were chosen through empirical identification of those with greatest endorsement differences. A 13-item scale emerged with an endorsement differential exceeding 45%. Four of the seven Conley-Kammeier items replicated in the 13-item scale. These shorter MMPI scales appear superior to the older 50-item-plus MacAndrew and Holmes scales for screening normal populations, providing cutting scores which yield specificity exceeding 80% with sensitivity greater than 90%. However, results must be interpreted with caution, and limitations regarding the state of the art are set forth.