Circular structure of the MCMI-III personality disorder scales

Millon's (1987) circular model of personality disorders was examined in a large sample of psychiatric patients (N = 2,366) who completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III; Millon, 1997) as part of routine assessment after presentation for treatment. Principal components ana...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality disorders 2001-06, Vol.15 (3), p.263-274
Main Authors: STRACK, Stephen, CHOCA, James P, GURTMAN, Michael B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Personality Disorders - diagnosis
Personality Inventory
Psychological Theory
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
Severity of Illness Index
Techniques and methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Millon's (1987) circular model of personality disorders was examined in a large sample of psychiatric patients (N = 2,366) who completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III; Millon, 1997) as part of routine assessment after presentation for treatment. Principal components analyses were conducted to identify the first two dimensions in MCMI-III base rate scores, weighted and unweighted raw scores, and nonoverlapping scale scores. Similar analyses were made on these scores when acquiescence was partialled out. Circular plots of the scales were examined against Millon's hypothesized arrangement and the model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Results replicated those of Strack, Lorr, and Campbell (1990) with the MCMI-II. Millon's horizontal Impassive-Expressive dimension was recovered in both regular and residual scores but the vertical axis appeared to represent an Impulsivity-Compulsivity dimension rather than the Autonomous-Enmeshed continuum envisioned by Millon. Although scale order followed Millon's predictions for the most part, a number of departures from theoretical expectations were noted and none of the score sets yielded a good fit to the hypothetical structure. Millon's model appears to have promise as a circumplex that can encompass all of the personality disorders but changes are needed to rectify discrepancies between the theory and empirical findings.
ISSN:0885-579X
1943-2763
DOI:10.1521/pedi.15.3.263.19206