The MCMI is a psychological assessment tool intended to provide information on personality traits and psychopathology, including specific mental disorders outlined in the DSM-5.
It is intended for adults (18 and over) with at least a 5th grade reading level who are currently seeking mental health services.
The concepts involved in the questions and their presentation make it unsuitable for those with below average intelligence or reading ability.
The MCMI-IV is based on Theodore Millon's evolutionary theory and is organized according to a multiaxial format.
Briefly the theory is divided into three core components which Millon cited as representing the most basic motivations.
These core components are which each manifest in distinct polarities (in parentheses): Furthermore, this theory presents personality as manifesting in three functional and structural domains, which are further divided into subdomains: Finally, the Millon Evolutionary Theory outlines 15 personalities, each with a normal and abnormal presentation.
[6] In 1969, Theodore Millon wrote a book called Modern Psychopathology, after which he received many letters from students stating that his ideas were helpful in writing their dissertations.
[7] With the publication of the DSM-III-R, a new version of the MCMI (MCMI-II) was published in 1987 to reflect the changes made to the revised DSM.
[1] The Grossman Facet Scales were added to improve the overall clinical utility and specificity of the test, and attempt to influence future iterations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
The hope was the DSM would adopt the prototypical feature identification method used in the MCMI to differentiate between personality disorders.
This would mean, for clinical treatment or assessment planning, you could have a better understanding of how quickly and spontaneously a person's mood may change, compared to others with elevated Borderline scale scores.
In general, the Validity Scale (V) contains a number of improbable items which may indicate questionable results if endorsed.
245 new items were generated by the authors in accordance with relevant personality research, reference materials, and the current diagnostic criteria.
[1] The number of items was reduced based on a rational approach according to the degree to which they fit Millon's evolutionary theory.
Examining test-retest reliability requires administering the items from the MCMI-IV at two different time periods.
Based on 129 participants, the test-retest reliability of the MCMI-IV personality and clinical syndrome scales ranged from 0.73 (Delusional) to 0.93 (Histrionic) with a most values above 0.80.
[1] These statistics indicate that the measure is highly stable over a short period of time; however, no long-term data are available.
Accordingly, the test is not appropriate for nonclinical populations or those without psychopathological concerns, as BR scores may adjust and indicate pathology in a case of normal functioning.
[1] The interpretation of the results from the MCMI-IV is a complex process that requires integrating scores from all of the scales with other available information such as history and interview.
Test results may be considered invalid based on a number of different response patterns on the modifying indices.
A raw score above 114 or below 7 [13] is considered not to be an accurate representation of the patient's personality style as they either over-or under-disclosed and may indicate questionable results.
Desirability or Debasement base rate scores of 75 or greater indicate that the examiner should proceed with caution.
The MCMI is one of several self-report measurement tools designed to provide information about psychological functioning and personality psychopathology.